The Golden Bond
by GameofSuperwholockathogwarts
Summary: Magic can be harnessed, it can be directed but it is a separate entity of its own mind and will. It will do what is best for it's chosen ones. Sirius had never truly believed that until Magic had spoken, choosing two-year-old Hermione Granger as his soul mate. (basically a soul bond between Sirius and Hermione) genius! Hermione Compassionate! Sirius (Bashing) grammatical issues!
1. Prologue

A/N: alrighty new story! 😊 yea I'm still working on the way it was supposed to be (might change the title) its at 60 chapters now and has turned slightly complicated with three timelines and pulling it together and the romance and reactions things like that but I definitely adore writing for you all anyways this is my new story it is a Sirius/Hermione I do hope you'll adore it and it'll have some select Weasley bashing no Dumbledore bashing because I want to give him a bit of redemption!. There is an end note btw if you want to read it. Also I recognise that brother bear didn't come out until 2003 but I love the movie and the song so I'm putting it in.

I DON'T OWN JK ROWLING IT'S HER CHARACTERS AND UNIVERSE ANYTHING OTHER THAN PLOT ISNT MINE! "tell everybody I'm on my way" isn't mine it is lyrics of a song written by Phil Collins - On My Way Lyrics in the movie Brother Bear and belongs to them.

Dan and Helen Granger, of Ottery St Catchpole, were proud of the advancements their little Hermione, at the age of two, could show, thank you very much. Neither being slouches in the intelligence department they were more than capable of recognising the signs of a genius, and that is exactly what their darling Hermione was, who cared if she could cause their garden to bloom in the dead of winter? Wasn't Helen just that morning speaking about how she missed the beautiful roses that entranced her? And who cares if Hermione at five weeks had caused her eyes to flash green? Dan had after all wished his daughter had taken after him a little bit in the looks department anyway.

So, their Hermione was special, she was different, and they'd be damned if they allowed anyone to harm her but for a two-year-old Hermione was exceptionally bright, she understood that she couldn't show off her talents, others wouldn't understand, they weren't like her and her mummy and daddy.

"tell everybody I'm on my way!" Hermione giggled loudly as she danced down the park pavement, wobbling every now and again. She turned towards her father who was making silly faces at her mother, who didn't seem to be appreciating it at all, she didn't understand why her daddy was awfully funny.

"PETER SETH PETTIGREW YOU PUT MY BOOK DOWN RIGHT NOW" a screech tore through the nearly empty park causing the little family to whip in that direction, a beautiful red-headed woman was towering over a cowering fat man a book clutched between his quivering hands.

"L-Lilly-"a snarl of rage cut off the man as she tore the book out of his hands.

Dan and Helen had dismissed this with a snort of laughter and as they looked down towards their daughter they saw her missing.

Hermione adored books and the book that the screaming lady, Lily? was holding looked old and as her mother said old books held the most knowledge, as Hermione was desperately wishing that she was over there, perhaps if she politely asked she could touch the book? She didn't notice her magic gathering within her to fulfil its mistress request and she disappeared with a quiet pop.

Lily Potter was fed up, why she ever agreed to marry the annoying prat known as James Potter she would never know.

"perhaps he enchanted you?" Remus's voice cut through her ponderings, she glanced up in shock, wondering how he knew.

"it's written all over your face plus we are best friends like you can keep anything from me, everything's packed by the way" his attention was diverted by the squirming infant in his arms and Lily's heart melted.

Her darling Harry had barely turned two the week before, the time had flown by and she wasn't sure she liked it. She took Harry into her arms and his eyes snapped open the same colour and shape of her own, with such a startling intensity, it took her breath away, smiling up at Remus who was carrying a large bag with him, they both headed downstairs.

James and Sirius were trying unsuccessfully to hide behind the sofa in fear of the wrath Lilly Potter was renowned for, rightly so.

Letting out an amused snort Remus spoke "it's okay guys, she's holding Harry"

Grinning towards each other, they sprung up knowing that Lily wouldn't do anything while holding Harry.

"Great idea to have a mini Prongs, James, the kids already saved our arses from getting hexed numerous times" Sirius gave a bark of laughter as he vaulted over the sofa to get closer to his Godson who was happily crying "Siri! Siri!"

"got to work on the pronunciation mate but you're getting there!" he encouraged with a grin as he happily stole his prongslet from Lily. Lily let out a snort of amusement at the way the rumoured Casanova that was Sirius Black melted in front of her son, oh if only people knew the truth.

Diverting her attention to her husband who was struggling with the stroller that she had bought for Harry, she couldn't help the soft smile that had broken out on her face, he was handsome, not conventionally maybe with his scrawny build and messy hair, crooked glasses but it was his lopsided grin and sparkling eyes that burned with intensity, her son might have gotten the colours of her eyes but she knew he had gotten his father's intensity, that being said though they did just cover her room in sparkles and got her clothes to perform the tango in front of her, who knew her knickers knew such moves? She quickly flung a stinging hex at her husbands, admittedly great arse, and he let out an almighty yelp of pain jerking quickly up.

Smirking at her husband who was looking at her incredulously, she winked cheekily at him before turning to Remus.

"where's Peter?" she asked wondering where the man was, he had been so stressed lately, well they all had with- No, she stubbornly shook her head, she wasn't going to think about the war or the prophecy not on their potentially last day of freedom.

Remus seeing where her thoughts were heading, smiled gently "he said he would meet us at the park apparently something came up with his dad" he absently started picking out some books to take with him so that he and Lily would have something to read while they relaxed.

Nodding her head in understanding, she whistled sharply to gain James and Sirius's attention. "come on then you two, Peter is going to meet us there and I want to take full advantage of this beautiful weather" she grinned happily before stealing Harry back and twisting on the spot.

Giggling as she landed on the gazebo, that had carefully crafted spells to avoid the looks of muggles she quickly glanced around before striding forward towards the lake, a beautiful place in Ottery St Catchpole. Watching Remus jogging over to the spot that she had picked she gestured for him to place the blanket down as Sirius and James came tumbling out of the gazebo happily warring with one another.

"Oh honestly" she rolled her eyes before catching sight of a small, plump twitching man, with a beaming smile she called out for Peter who jumped at the sound of her voice before scurrying over.

"L-Lilly lovely to see you s-sorry that I'm late" he spoke quickly glancing around before timidly sitting at the edge of the blanket.

"it's lovely to see you too Peter" she smiled gently at him before handing Harry to an impatient Remus and sorting through the books Remus had picked, Peter quickly grabbed at a bottle of butterbeer, uncapping it and taking a quick sip before speaking.

"where are-"the rest of his sentence was cut off as Sirius and James steamrolled him, causing the bottle to go flying out of his hand and smashing against one of Lilly's prized books. He quickly grabbed at the book fruitlessly trying to clean off the liquids, James and Sirius quickly scrambled out of the way as Remus calmly bounced Harry up and down who was gurgling happily at the scene before him.

"PETER SETH PETTIGREW YOU PUT MY BOOK DOWN RIGHT NOW" she shrieked in total rage, her emerald eyes flashing.

"L-Lilly-" a snarl of rage cut off Peter as she violently tore the book out of his hand, her hand twitching towards the ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow wand that was concealed up her sleeve. A pop of apparition was heard and then a voice

"Hello, Mrs screaming lady can I perhaps have a look at your books please?" Hermione's voice cut through the tension in the air.

Lily glanced down to see a sweet looking little girl, with a halo of brown curls a headband attempting to keep some semblance of control and cute bunny teeth, she was clad in a light blue dress with black Mary Jane shoes, she was impeccably well dressed but ever so tiny.

"Sweetie are you lost?" she asked gently glancing at James in apprehension, how on earth did this little girl apparate? He discreetly pulled out his wand just in case.

The little girl gave out a loud giggle

"No, my parents are over there, we came to the park to play, do you come here often? Can I read your books? I promise I'm good with books I have loads of my own and daddy says I'm awfully good at reading and I don't need to use pictures or have help unless the word is super complicated like onomatopoeia – her nose scrunched up cutely as she stumbled slightly over the word- and why is he holding a stick? Do you all have sticks? Is he like a dog and he played with sticks? Is he a dog? My mummy says I can't have a dog she says that they're messy but I-"

She was cut off by the cry of an older woman, Lily figured the little girl might have carried on forever otherwise.

"Hermione!" the woman quickly snatched up the girl, the man that was beside her slightly standing in front of his wife and child, Lily noticed that his fists were clenched.

"-know dogs are my favourite!" Hermione happily finished completely unaware of the tension surrounding her.

"are they really sweetie?" Lily murmured absently as she went and grabbed Harry, keeping a close eye on the supposed family in case it went south.

"you can't just apparate, you know, muggles might see" James asserted drawing the attention towards him.

"what's a muggle? What's apparating? Is it what I did? Because I just jumped really, I'm good at jumping and has it anything to do with your stick? Is it a special stick?" Hermione tilted her head to the side as she pondered the new knowledge that was coming towards her.

"what do you mean 'what's a muggle?' Aren't you magical?" James reached up and scratched at his head in confusion.

"what are you on about? Magic doesn't exist" the man shuffled uneasily, hoping his large frame would block their view of his Hermione, Helen meanwhile was desperately going through the plans that they had made in case this would ever occur, she still had her get-out-of-dodge bag under the bed, call her paranoid but like hell was her daughter being experimented on.

"so, you're saying your muggles?" Remus spoke up for the first time, eyeing up the family in suspicion, he had pegged them for Malfoy's the moment he had seen them.

"that's it Daniel I'm leaving and taking Hermione with me, we don't need this" the woman snapped angrily, as she protectively held her daughter to her chest, she turned and began to walk away.

"No, wait! We can explain, magic is real, and your daughter is a witch and the sticks are wands!" Sirius cried out, the desperation in his eyes caused James to look at him weirdly, Sirius didn't know what was going on himself but the moment he had seen the curls of the petite girl he felt something move.

"really?" the girl wriggled in her mother's arms, fruitlessly as the mother began muttering about crazy people as she carried on storming away, with a huff of annoyance, she screwed up her face in concentration and with a pop! Disappeared again only to land right in front of Sirius.

"Tell me more!" she demanded, looking up at him as her mother started to march back, her eyes flashing in protectiveness.

Crouching down Sirius stared into the innocent honey-gold eyes and felt the earth shift beneath his feet, he felt rather than saw everything around him fade as he was dragged deeper into those golden pools, a bond began to form reaching out from Sirius and towards the girl, swirls of silver rose from their chests before intertwining and locking together, Magic had spoken.

"you see, Love, some people are born with this incredible gift known as magic, we can harness this power to do amazing things and we go to a wonderful school where we learn how to control it and expand our knowledge, apparating is a lot like jumping where we go from one place to another simply by willing it and our sticks are also known as wands, a conduit for our Magic" Sirius spoke gently his eyes soft and sparkling at the little cherub in front of him.

Her eyes sparkled happily up at him, she decided right then and there that this man was her favourite and she was going to keep him, he smiled at her and answered all her questions. Glancing up she saw that the adults were staring at her and the nice man, silly people they should just ask her silver-eyed man and he would answer.

Her daddy was slowly turning purple but attempting to keep his cool.

"what the hell are you on about? Hermione come here now" his voice had turned stern, so Hermione knew that she had to obey, she reluctantly walked over to her father, glancing back at her silver-eyed man, a pout on her face.

"Right okay, I'm James Potter this is my wife Lily and our son Harry, these are my best mates Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew we are wizards, well Lily is a witch like your daughter, she's also muggleborn like your daughter a magical person born to non-magical people" James glanced about, the park was slightly deserted but still they should move "perhaps we can go to the gazebo and discuss this further?"

"like hell-" her father's voice rose

"Dan, stop, we haven't found any answers to do with Hermione's…abilities, your brother couldn't figure it out maybe they'll be able to do it" Helen spoke they all seemed trustworthy apart from that twitchy rat of a man, but she'd just keep an eye on him. Dan looked down at his wife of over twenty years and sighed heavily before jerking his head in acknowledgement.

"fine, let's go" he started to march towards the gazebo his wife following him, scooping up Hermione, before stopping and turning back to the group

"well come on" he demanded impatiently

"muggles aren't supposed to see the gazebo" James spoke his eyes narrowing slightly, as his hand moved slightly towards his arm, but Remus nudging him stopped him from acting.

"could be squibs" Remus spoke calmly, having stayed quite due to his appearance knowing how people reacted to his scars.

"what's a squib," Hermione asked staring at her Silver-Eyed Man, he grinned at her but allowed the plump man to answer.

"A-a s-squib is an m-magical person b-born to m-magical parents b-but w-without t-the m-magic" he stuttered out, wringing his hands nervously.

Hermione stared at the plump man before reluctantly nodding her head, she would wait until her silver-eyed man answered her questions, he didn't seem so nervous. They got to the gazebo, Dan hesitating a moment before squaring his shoulders and heading into the structure feeling a chill of something wash over him. The group entered the gazebo before sitting in an uneasy circle, the Grangers on one side of the gazebo the magical on the other.

"Right, explain" Dan spoke glancing at the group in front of him, wanting to know what was going on.

"perhaps we can know your names first?" Lily spoke up

"right yes, I'm Daniel Granger this is my wife Helen Granger, and this is our daughter Hermione, she's special but I'd like to see proof that you can do it too, we haven't seen anything like it" he shuffled slightly, his body language betraying his inner thoughts, he was terrified.

"sure thing" Sirius beat the rest of the group to the punch line pulling out his wand, cypress wood 14 inches with a dragon heartstring core, and walking to stand in front of the grangers, with a wink towards Hermione and a casual flick of his wand, the area around them had turned into a galaxy, being of black blood he had been capable of producing this spell since he could walk and he would only admit it to himself but he adored this spell it was his favourite to cast.

Hermione stared in awe at the stars around her, it was amazing to see all the colours and it felt so real as well if this is what magic could do then she had to learn all about it!

"Daddy I want to learn" Hermione spoke her big doe eyes pleading with him, Helen looked at him with the same expression and he let out a heavy sigh there was no way he could deny them when they looked like that.

"what is this whole thing then?" he rubbed his head wearily already feeling a massive headache coming on.

"we'll get to that, but first could you tell us about your families? Specifically, your parents and their family names? We think that you could be the children of squibs and since they never told you anything because you didn't show any magical potential this is all new to you" James asked he wanted to know all about their families if they could produce such a powerful child.

Helen hesitantly spoke first "well my maiden name was Moody; my father Ignatius Moody married my mother her name was Leta Lestrange" she glanced up at the strangled sounds coming from the other occupants of the room.

"No wonder Mad-eye doesn't talk about his family if one of them shacked up with the psychos from hell," James said, scratching the back of his already messy hair.

"that is my mother you are talking about" the icy voice of Helen snapped

"Sorry, it's just the Lestrange family don't have the best reputation in the wizarding world, they're a very dark family whereas the Moody family are renowned for producing Aurors- like magical police- they're very light" James hurriedly went on to explain.

"from what I heard from the family, Leta was considered to be the white hippogriff of the family like me, she was all buddy-buddy with Newt Scamander and his creatures, got her brother Credence to help him out when he was found after the whole kidnapping debacle, but then she up and left when her brother forcefully took over the family and started going crazy, no one knew what happened, most people figured she ran off to go save some indigenous species somewhere" Sirius scratched at his neck as he tried to think of everything else he knew about the woman, Helen was staring at him in shock so he went on

"I'm a pureblood, so I grew up with all of this, everyone knew everyone and gossiped relentlessly the lestrange's were close with my family the Black's, pureblood meaning only magical parents for centuries but that's a whole can of nifflers in a gold store that you don't want to open" he hurriedly explained as Helen was starting to look slightly creeped out. She nodded her head in acceptance before glancing at her husband.

"right well my father's father name was Dagworth-Granger, my Father said he had dropped it because it was too much of a mouthful but I'm not sure, my mother last name was Evans, the last I heard there was some family of her's in Cokeworth cousins of mine I think" he scratched slightly at his head, trying to recall more details but giving up.

"Evans, really?" Lily leant forward eagerly

"hmm, yea but I don't know much about that family" he replied

"my Maiden name is Evans! What was your mother's name?"

"Her name was Aster apparently the family was big on flowers and plants, named my little brother Rowan"

"yes, my family was, it's nice to meet another family member, such a small world" Lily let out a laugh, glancing down at a frowning Harry, who was beginning to fuss.

"I think that we should have lunch and carry on discussing this afterwards" Lily smiled before dragging Remus back towards the picnic blanket and horde of foods that she had prepared.

Sirius stood up and went to follow the rest of the group but was stopped by a hand grabbing him by the back of his neck and dragging him back. Spinning quickly, he slapped James hand away from him and frowned unhappily.

"what?" he snapped

James looked disbelieving "what do you mean what? What the hell was that whole magic show with the kid? Do you not understand the statue of secrecy pads? We are Aurors you know, and Azkaban does exist" he waved his arms about in annoyance, lecturing his best friend.

Sirius took a moment to consider James, fatherhood had really changed him, but he wasn't the only one that was changed. Before due to the black blood running in his veins when he was a teenager he would have blown up and accused James of a whole bunch of horrible things, but the war had made Sirius grow up, he was slightly thankful that his temper had been curbed.

"James, think rationally how long have you known me mate? Do I look that stupid? All I know what happened is that my magic and hers it just melded together and everything it just shifted, I'm slightly terrified but it wasn't malicious, and I had not control, it all just clicked" he shrugged his shoulders before running a hand through his hair.

"you know she's like two, right?" James spoke cautiously

"of course, I fucking know! It's nothing like that! I just want to protect her and care for her, maybe in the future, it might be an unprovoked bond look I'll just have to go talk to Dumbledore alright? He'll know" Sirius was tugging at his locks by the end of his speech, pacing nervously wanting his best friend to understand the situation he had been unwillingly landed in.

"I get it mate, look we'll go to Dumbledore first thing and we'll give a load of books to Lily and Remus and we'll solve this alright?" James spoke soothingly already wondering what books will be at Potter Manor he hadn't been back in a while, not after clearing it out but he was certain they'll find the answer.

The Potters, Sirius, Remus and the Grangers spent the rest of the day getting to know each other a lot better, while the Grangers where busy asking about the magical world, Remus and Sirius spent their time taking care of Harry and Hermione who got along like a house on fire, Harry was thrilled to see another child his age and Hermione was delighted that no one seemed to mind her constant questions, the scar-faced one known as Remus, was very nice and wore sweaters and snuck her some pieces of chocolate with a sleight of hand and a wink, but her firm favourite remained the silver-eyed man, Sirius, she liked his smile and his bark of laughter like a dog and he had very nice hair-so very unlike her own- he seemed delighted by her presence and all of her questions which he answered diligently, he didn't talk down to her and treated her seriously. Yes, she decidedly sleepily that night, remembering his leather and sandalwood scent with a nice mixture of smoke, wood and a hint of whiskey, she was absolutely keeping him.

That night a rat took vicious pleasure as he described the events of the day, it was worth the enraged look on Bellatrix Lestrange that she was related to the offspring off squibs who was indeed rather powerful, The Dark Lord, however, looked very thoughtful at the new prospect placed before him.

A/N 4,000 words without these author notes yay! I will be uploading on Thursday and TWIWSTB is under works so don't worry lol, I mean even if you still want that story?


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I DO NOT OWN THIS, I'M MERELY PLAYING IN JK ROWLINGS SANDBOX also Surprise! I manged to finish this chapter off pretty quickly, hopefully the next one will be done on Thursday

The next day James, Sirius and Remus had rushed to Hogwarts, leaving behind a slightly concerned Lily who had demanded to know what was going on the night before but unable to come up with any theories as to the situation between Sirius and Hermione.

"Padfoot calm down mate alright? It'll be fine you know dumbles has all the answers" James attempted to calm down the nearly manic Sirius, Remus was leaning casually against the opposite wall looking incredibly amused by this whole situation, he had laughed until tears had come out last night secretly feeling relief that he wasn't the only one stuck, he had a theory about what was happening but wanted to stay quiet until the Headmaster concurred. Peter had yet again disappeared James made a mental note to check on their friend, this war seemed to be hitting him hardest of all.

"Calm down Potter? I can't calm down what if this is bad? What if it hurts Hermione?" Sirius spun and advanced on James.

"Wait your worried about Hermione? Not yourself?" Remus leant forward in interest, a speculative gleam in his eye, he had considered the whole 'mates' thing but due to Sirius not being a werewolf he had dismissed it, perhaps it was time to revaluate?

Sirius opened his mouth to answer but was saved by the stone gargoyle leaping aside as the staircase began to move, they hurried onto it, shoving each other playfully before accidentally crashing into the door at the top causing it to burst open.

"honestly Potter, Black, Lupin I thought I was finally rid of you" Minerva Mcgonagall spoke, looking down at the three boys with a stern expression as they grinned sheepishly up at her.

"Minnie-"

"you-"

"know-"

"you'll-"

"never-"

"get-"

"rid-"

"of-"

"US!"

Sirius and James beamed proudly at their twin speak while Remus scrambled off the floor blushing furiously as he mumbled apologies.

"and what is with this ridiculous new skit?" Mcgonagall asked, her eyebrow raised

"Prewett twins dared us Minnie, you know we can't say no to a dare" Sirius explained while James cheekily snuck in for a kiss on the cheek, earning a swipe from the professor.

"Minnie I'm a happily married man" James looked scandalized for a second, winking at the professor. "you'll never guess what padfoot got for Harry professor, a broom! Bloody brilliant it is and my little boy is as well! Going to be the youngest chaser in a century got talent for days! Just you wait Minnie! Soon enough you'll have a team of Potters to dominate your quidditch pitch and then the world!" he finished his speech dramatically before flopping down on a chair, lopsided grin firmly in place.

"when your son, no doubt, attends Hogwarts he will have to wait until second year like everyone else Mr. Potter" Professor Mcgonagall sat primly in front of the Headmasters desk, waiting for him.

"Nah Minnie you'll see his skill and be blown away and you can always bend the rule for your favourite student, can't you?" James winked theatrically

"I most certainly will not Mr. Potter" Mcgonagall looked appalled at the suggestion.

"we'll see, I'll even set Lily on you, Merlin knows no one denies her anything, least of all me, such an angel Minnie, left her this morning wearing flour and eggs on her head but she still looked stunning" the adoration that was shown in James love-struck face cause McGonagall's lips to twitch, secretly she adored the marauders and had shed a tear for the love Lily and James had shown, she was so very proud of her lion cubs.

A flash of green came from the corner of the room, before a very old man with an extremely long beard and very bright yellow robes stepped out, with twinkling blue eyes set behind half-moon glasses, he appraised the room before going and sitting behind his desk.

"Lemon Drop anyone?" he asked pleasantly, he gave a hum of disappointment when no one reached out and took one, but happily took one for himself and began to suck on it.

"now, Messer's Potter, Black and Lupin you said you had something important to discuss with me?" he leant back in the throne like chair as he waited for them to speak.

"ah, well see the thing is, um of course not that I intended-"Sirius stumbled trying to get the words out

"Sirius has bonded with a two-year old, that's the running theory anyways" James calmly cut in, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

Dumbledore leant forward in intrigue "what happened" he asked gently looking at Sirius.

"we were at the park taking Harry, Lily wanted a day out before they went into hiding and Lily was yelling at peter and then this girl just apparated and we thought that it was another magical family but turns out that they were squibs and I was explaining things to her and I looked into her eyes and everything just shifted" Sirius rushed out in one big breath, both dreading and desiring an answer.

Dumbledore gave no visible reaction to the news, he lazily lifted a hand and then there was a book zooming into it, he glanced through the pages before speaking.

"what colour was the magic?"

"it was silver" James spoke quickly

"hmm" Dumbledore kept leafing through the book, before stopping and reading through a page.

"well?"

"well what Mr. Black?"

"what is it" Sirius snapped beginning to feel agitated

Dumbledore took no offence to the tone of his voice instead turning towards Remus.

"ah, Mr. Lupin could you perhaps enlighten us to what mates are?"

"werewolf mates Headmaster?"

"Yes please Mr. Lupin"

Remus looked uncomfortable for a moment before speaking "true mates otherwise known as soul mates are the perfect match between werewolves, it's probably the only perk to being a wolf, they're not everything that you want but they're everything that you need, it's like instead of two sides of the same coin, they are the puzzle piece that fits yours, when you meet them everything shifts because they are your number one priority until you have cubs of course downside is if they die, you follow soon after. It's been suggested the reason why greyback is insane is because he lost his mate and hasn't been able to follow her, so he's gone feral and taking it out on the world but meeting your mate Headmaster it's incredibly rare-essentially a myth- and Sirius isn't even a werewolf"

The Headmaster beamed proudly at Remus who flushed slightly at the proud look.

"very well done Mr. Lupin and so very astute as well, you are right that Mr. Black being a werewolf is impossible as werewolves cannot be Animagus's can they? However, Magic is something wonderful, we use it and harness it yes, but it is also a separate entity that sometimes makes choices and decisions for us for instance with young Mr. Potter why was he so determined to chase Mrs. Evans despite the countless rejections? It is because their magic's had decided that they were the perfect match for one another, a harmonious bond. What I believe Mr. Black and this young girl has is something known as a Golden Bond, rather romantic don't you think? A Golden Bond is rather like werewolf mates but the wizarding version, it is rare but not unheard of with Mr and Mrs Potter they have something known as a true match bond, it is close to a Golden Bond but with one key difference, with a Golden Bond your mate is the only one you can have" Dumbledore looked very grave at the end of his speech.

"it wasn't countless, it was 4380 give or take a few hundred" James muttered petulantly

"what do you mean only one?" Sirius asked, slightly terrified.

"a Golden Bond starts off with the magics of the two-people intertwining and locking together, what happened with you and the girl yesterday, it is instantaneous and there is no way out of it. Magic has deemed her your perfect match and magic will not allow for any other to take that place in your heart or hers" Dumbledore expanded "the bond becomes golden when it has been…consummated but that won't happen for years, until then you will be whatever she needs you to be, best friend, confidant, helper…the bond ensures your loyalty and love to one another"

"so, I have no choice?" Sirius asked, unsure of the feelings bubbling up

"you can choose another as the bond has been established but not finished, but you won't find anyone who can compare to it, the feelings between the bonded are naturally there and will naturally grow anyone you may choose will simply end up at the wayside as you try to woo your true match, the bond and the showiness of it, is simply a way that magic declares to us that we have found our true matches as we can be slightly ignorant of that fact"

"I don't know how to take that" Sirius admitted quietly, slumped down in defeat.

"it's a joyous thing Sirius, something that most magical people desperately desire" Albus beamed at Sirius, slightly reassuring him. "now tell me more about this girl"

"her name is Hermione she comes from a line of squibs…it's rather powerful as well, her grandfather was Ignatius moody, her grandmother Leta lestrange on her mother's side on her father's she's related to the Dagworth-granger family and she's a distant relation of Lily. She's a genius and loves to ask questions, her favourite animal is the dog, then the otter and then the lioness, her favourite colour is purple, her favourite book is Alice in Wonderland and she likes Shakespeare but it's a bit too melodramatic for her and she thinks that Romeo and Juliet is stupid because their plan was flawed and she adores Harry like a younger brother already" Sirius rushed out a grin stretched across his face as he gushed about her.

"she sounds like a very special girl Sirius" Dumbledore smiled indulgently, but Remus had noticed something.

"you didn't seem shocked about her parentage" he spoke up eyeing the headmaster in curiosity

"of course, not my dear boy, who do you think got Ignatius and dear Lettie out of the magical world? Who presided over their wedding ceremony and who ensured their daughters safety? Hmm?" he seemed amused by their shock

"Headmaster! Why didn't you tell me about Lettie?" Mcgonagall had stayed quite this entire time taking it all in but she really had to speak up then.

"my dear Minerva an old man like me does have a few secrets you know, now I really must get into contact with Alastor I'm sure he would love to know about his new relatives oh, and James I would like to speak with the Grangers about protective measures do bring them along to the next monthly meeting won't you?"

"yea, of course Headmaster" James spoke quickly dragging Sirius and Remus over to the floo as they left for Godric's Hollow.

As they arrived they were met by a beaming Lily, she was holding Harry and James's heart melted, this complete and utter angel had really chosen him? loved him? gave him the amazing gift of becoming a father? He snuck a glance at Sirius and Remus, he truly hoped that they could find love like he had, maybe this whole deal with Hermione will really pay off.

"good you're here now the Grangers called, and we have set up a play date for Harry and Hermione go change" Lily commanded

"love, we are trying to keep a low profile" James cautiously spoke

"yes James I know we are but the Grangers have questions and I have answers plus it is dangerous at the moment I would like to set up some enchantments along with the floo network and some portkeys here just in case" Lily spoke firmly, she had clearly decided that the Grangers were going to be family whether they liked it or not.

James sensing, he wasn't going to win- and not particularly wanting to win, replied with an affirmation before going and changing, Remus and Sirius following him having put some clothes away at the Potters they were over so often.

They quickly changed and hurried downstairs to be inspected by Lily as they were going into the muggle world, James had taken to dad clothes like a duck to water, Remus was wearing a sweater and slacks making him look like a favourite uncle and Sirius was dressed as punk rock as he could possibly get, collar included, Lily gave him an eyebrow raise but didn't comment on it as he cheekily winked and then they were out the door and on the way to the Grangers.

They apparated to a densely wooded area, while Lily used her wand and the point-me charm to lead them to a rather secluded barn conversion, the outside of the house was rough brick but the lights in the house shined brightly in the dimming daylight, they followed the gravel path up to a dark blue door with the numbers 221B, Lily raised her hand and knocked gently on the door, Sirius looked around and noticed the large amounts of plants that covered the property.

A frazzled Helen Granger answered the door, when she saw them she looked thrilled beyond belief grabbing onto Sirius and dragging him into the leaving room.

"Hermione's magic has gotten out of control" she practically wailed

In the living room books were flying around the room as dolls like the nutcracker soldiers were spinning with some ballerina dolls, Daniel and another man Sirius took for his brother were trying to get to Hermione, who was in the eye of the storm, looking scared.

"Hermione stop it!" the man was hollering at the top of his voice causing Hermione to feel even more terrified her magic lashing out.

"I don't know how to stop it!" Hermione was crying out desperately, she wanted it to stop!

Sirius seeing Hermione in such a stressful situation dived right in, forgetting that he was in fact, a wizard with magic perfectly capable of making it stop without being severely injured, Remus took out his wand and started flicking it sending the books back to the shelf and the toys to the ground.

Sirius had seen the magic around Hermione getting more volatile and had wrapped her up in his arms just as a book sailed right for her head, but hitting him in the head instead, sitting back on his hunches he looked down at Hermione.

"wicked" he grinned down at her, but she promptly burst into tears.

"hey, kitten what's wrong?" he asked gently soothing down her wild curls

"I'm sorry! I made you get hurt" she bawled loudly, her cheeks were flushing red as tears ran down them, the room beginning to shake again.

"hey, hey kitten it's alright we all have accidental magic, in fact when I was a kid I broke all the vases in my mother's study" he tried to reassure her desperately, his heart tugging at the sight of the crying girl, he had of course been delighted at getting rid of the stupid things but being locked in his room for a month without food was a little rough.

"really? Was she mad?" Hermione peeked up at him, the innocence in her eyes shining.

"nah, they were ugly anyways" he beamed at the little giggle that she gave, standing up he moved to hand her over to her mother, but Hermione had locked tightly onto his neck.

"is Harry going to play with me again?" Hermione asked Lily, she had liked the funny little boy.

"Harry is sleeping right now sweetie but maybe later" Lily smiled at the sweet little girl, she looked so adorable in her little cat pyjamas while clinging onto a leather studded clad Sirius.

"speaking of naps young lady, that tantrum of yours won't be getting you out of yours, upstairs now" Helen spoke, Hermione had lost her temper at the fact that she would be napping while they had guests because she had wanted to play with Harry and try to sneak more chocolate off Remus but Helen had been firm wanting to have a conversation of just adults without any bright bulbs listening in, she wanted the truth.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, briefly contemplating rebellion again but yawned loudly, realising how tired she was, she decided she would nap but because she wanted to, and she wasn't conceding defeat.

"can I stay with Sirius?" she found his scent very soothing and his arms made her feel very safe.

Helen glanced at Sirius who shrugged indifferently, he didn't mind holding Hermione, he had rather missed her.

"fine but you go straight to sleep and no listening in" Helen warned Hermione with a raised eyebrow as she reluctantly handed over Hermione's purple blanket.

"Promise" Hermione mumbled sleepily the force of magic that she had projected hitting her back full-force and she fell asleep immediately, a blanket wrapped tightly around her. Laying on top of Sirius.

Hermione awoke to a small hand poking her in the cheek.

"Mine, Mine" Harry's voice called out for her, she blearily opened her eyes to see a grinning Harry holding a small sweeping broom.

"Hello, Harry" she mumbled as she lifted herself off Sirius who smiled down at her, not minding the two active toddlers clambering on him, as they reached the floor he was soon dragged into a conversation with Rowan Granger, the younger brother of Daniel.

"Mine play on my broomstick?" Harry spoke, his speech was improving daily, James had joked on numerous occasions that he had taken after Lily in brains and she swelled with pride every time.

"you want to sweep the floor?" Hermione asked in confusion as the stood in the middle of the sitting room, the adults were relaxing on the couches around them talking, not keeping an eye on them.

"No, you ride 'em" Harry explained looking slightly horrified "daddy rides a bigger one and so does Siri and Moony"

Hermione was confused "how do you ride a broom?"

Harry's eyes lit up at the prospect of showing his friend, clambering onto the broom with a seemingly natural ease, he kicked his foot against the floor and he was off like a shot. Dan, Helen and Rowan Granger yelled in shock while Lily started to yell at James about good impressions and moronic behaviour, Remus and Sirius clutched at each other in desperation as they roared with laughter, watching as Harry zoomed about the house, dodging and weaving effortlessly before turning and coming to a stop in front of a shell-shocked Hermione.

"see? You ride them, your turn!" he had an identical lopsided grin on his face, his hair slightly windswept as he clambered off, he started to help Hermione up before they were both hauled upwards by their mothers.

"Harry James Potter who gave you that broom? You tell me right now!" Lily narrowed her eyes onto her son

"Hermione Leta Granger you are not going on that deathtrap" Helen narrowed her eyes in a similar way.

"I can't say I was bribed!" Harry happily told his mother

"but mummy it looks wicked" Hermione argued eyeing the broom with excitement

"bribed with what and by who?" Lily demanded to know

"you could smash you face into a wall Hermione!" Helen looked outraged

"with sweets and daddy, he never said I couldn't say who bribed me" Harry looked very pleased with himself with finding a loophole. Lily glanced at her husband with a death glare, as he gulped audibly.

"I'm sure I won't mummy I'll be careful" Hermione asserted, she looked for an ally in the room, her eyes landed on Sirius and she gave a piteous pout.

Sirius knowing full well he was being manipulated by the doe eyes she was using, still couldn't find the will power to say no, she looked so sad.

"ah, Helen we could always go outside? So that nothing in the house is smashed and we can cast charms to ensure their safety, Lily's great at charms" he gave his own puppy dog eyes towards Lily who huffed in mock annoyance before nodding along.

"well so long as it's safe" Helen spoke, the well-known family paranoia coming out full forced.

"checked it myself and cast more protective enchantments myself best money can buy" Sirius puffed up in pride, knowing that he had gotten the best training broom for Harry and now apparently Hermione. Helen eyed him up for a moment, a move reminiscent of Moody's, was that a genetic thing? Before nodding and allowing everyone to move out into the back garden.

James, who been listening in egearly, lit up in excitement before bounding out into the back garden.

He whipped out his wand and immediately began casting spells left, right and centre turning it into a mini quidditch pitch complete with hoops and conjured balls that wouldn't hurt anyone. Harry and Hermione watched him transfixed as he span with a beaming grin and sparkling eyes.

"right team listen up! Today I'm going to explain the wonderful sport that is quidditch and this is serious because by the end of the day you're going to be champs ready?" he winked at the kids

"ready!" they chorused together.

"alright so in a team of quidditch there are seven players on each side: The Keeper, the Seeker, three Chasers and two Beaters, now one member of the team will be captain and he makes the decisions and strategy for the matches alright? Now there are three balls: a Quaffle, two Bludgers and the Golden Snitch. The ball that scores the points is the Quaffle. Two bludgers are used to knock players off their brooms so you must dodge them. the third and most important ball is the Golden Snitch. The Golden Snitch is a tiny ball that has wings and is enchanted. The keeper protects three hoops that the chasers try to put the Quaffle through in order to score points for their team, now the beaters are given a bat and they're job is to keep the bludgers away and to ensure that the team is safe, the seeker has to catch the snitch in order to finish the game and to earn their team a hundred and fifty points but it's strategy you see, just because you catch the snitch doesn't mean you will win the game understand?" James had gone into full teacher mode, conjuring a blackboard with diagrams that moved, Sirius momentarily felt pity for them remembering his team captain speeches.

"I like that ball" Harry piped up pointing at the snitch like object while Hermione stared at the blackboard, committing it to memory.

"right Hermione you don't have to worry, flying is perfectly natural" Sirius reassured the small girl, stepping up to help her as James started to discuss the snitch with his son, Hermione clambered onto the broom a determined look on her face.

"if you lean forward then the broom will go faster, if you lean backwards you will slow it down, leaning the broom to the left means you will go left and leaning right makes you go right, pulling the broom upwards will cause it to go higher, pointing it downwards will make you go lower but this broom is still a training broom so it doesn't go up or down okay?" Sirius explained softly.

"okay" Hermione said understanding, she wobbled slightly before going around the garden/ quidditch pitch in a jerky circle before coming to stop in front of her parents, her toes lightly brushing the top of the grass.

"I did it!" she cried cheerfully as she clambered off.

"very well-done Hermione!" Dan cheered, this quidditch thing looked rather interesting perhaps Hermione could get involved.

"great job mine" Harry said, he had been playing with the golden snitch, James cheering him on.

"Lily look maybe he should be a professional seeker, look at that form, look at that talent!" he was puffing up like a proud peacock.

"yes James, he's excellent but perhaps we should let him decide for himself hmm?" Lily replied rolling her eyes with Remus.

"Lily he could be the captain of Gryffindor! Go professional for the Falmouth Falcons" he grinned as Sirius looked indignant.

"nah mate he'll play for Kenmare Kestrels, the best team in the world" Sirius declared striking a theatrical pose causing Hermione and Harry to fall into a fit of giggles.

"never mind the future of a child right now, lunch is ready" Helen spoke having gone to start lunch while the children played.

The entire group chattered happily as they tucked into a delicious Sunday roast, James and Lily were discussing the magical community with Dan and Helen, they talked about Ottery st catchpole and the magical families close by.

"there are the Diggory's, the Lovegood's and the Weasley's who live rather close to you" James explained "we have a meeting this month in a week's time we would like to take you along, with everything going on we think you should be in the know plus mad-eye will be there"

Dan and Helen glanced at one another before nodding "I think it would be best if we come along, we need to know about the threats, so we can protect Hermione" Dan spoke glancing at Hermione who was happily picking at her dinner.

"why'd you call him Mad-eye?" Hermione asked looking at James.

"he looks like a pirate it looks wicked" James grinned at Hermione, who let out a giggle.

"awesome!" she tucked back into her lunch, excited to go to this meeting, she'd be meeting an actual pirate!

The afternoon was filled with fun as Harry and Hermione played games, Harry learning about muggle things, the TV enchanting him, James, Remus and Sirius and Hermione learnt about the magical world having the adults show off the different branches of magic, Lily's charms delighted her and made her squeal with joy, James's transfiguration was incredibly lifelike, Remus using the tripping jinx on a confused James had Harry and Hermione in peals of laughter, Sirius easy manipulation of elements into different shapes that Harry and Hermione demanded were wonderful fun. Lily had hooked the family up to the floo network while also setting up the best protective enchantments that she could, with the grangers being secluded she might even be able to convince Dumbledore to place the fidelius charm onto the house.

Hermione was very sad when dusk came, and they had to leave, she had wanted to play for longer, she knew that they would be coming back next week but that seemed an eternity away. As they were saying goodbye Sirius crouched in front of her.

"what's up buttercup?" he asked jovially hoping it would cheer her up, it didn't she clutched onto him.

"I don't want you to go" she muttered feeling slightly silly.

"I know, we'll see each other soon" he reassured her, but she didn't let go "how about you let go and agree to be good and I'll give you the books I brought?" that did it, she was off him like a shot bouncing up and down in excitement.

"books? Really? For me?" she squealed in excitement as he pulled out a small package from his pocket, tapping it with his wand, it grew in size until it was as tall as Hermione. Looking a little sheepish at the fact that he might have gone a tad overboard for his bookworm, oh well she clearly adored books and he had the money.

"these books are both for you and your parents there is information about the wizarding world along with some basic charms-" his voice became a whisper "-and some that are a little advance but I think you'll enjoy learning about them" he leant back and winked at her, she felt a thrill of excitement run through her, so much knowledge! She couldn't wait to start!

"we'll see you next week and think about what I said, Hermione could benefit from some extra control, she's a powerful little thing" James looked seriously at her parents before grinning down at Hermione, they all stepped outside twisted in the air and _POP!_ They were gone.

Much to Hermione's chagrin she wasn't allowed to read the books Sirius had gotten her and her parents had hidden them in order to stop her from sneaking out of bed, but as soon as she was able the next day she was diving into the books of knowledge and didn't come back up again for the entire week, keeping her distracted from missing everyone.

The week flew by and before she knew it, it was the day they were going to the order of the phoenix meeting, she was nervous as she would be meeting everyone and didn't know how they would react. Her mother had picked out a pretty sunshine yellow dress for her to wear while pulling her hair back into a thick braid, Hermione sat on the living room couches, rereading her favourite book of the pile, Hogwarts a history.

At 7pm sharp there was a knock on the door, Dan hurried to answer it, flattening the plain button-down shirt he was wearing, opening the door he greeted James, Lily, Remus, Sirius and Peter as they marched into the sitting room.

"Sirius!" she happily exclaimed rushing over to him to give him a hug

"hey kitten ready for the meeting?" he asked lightly tugging on her hair playfully

"I'm not sure you're going to stay with me, right?" she looked bashfully at her feet

"of course, I am Kitten" he hugged her quickly as reassurance

"you look very pretty tonight Hermione" Lily spoke leaning down to soothe some fly away hair that had begun to spring out of her braid.

"thank you, Lily, is Harry not coming tonight?" Hermione pouted slightly

"no sweetie he's staying with his friend's grandmother and him tonight, Harry was a little tired and couldn't stay up" she explained gently as she lead her over to the fireplace.

"right James will go first to Diggory manor and then Remus you'll take Dan, Helen you're with me and Hermione you'll be with Sirius and Peter will follow last okay?" Lily gave the marching orders before nodding to James to begin, Hermione watched in wonder as James shouted something and the flames turned a bright before he disappeared.

"don't worry kitten it doesn't hurt a bit, but keep your mouth and eyes closed okay? Would you like me to hold you?" Sirius asked

Hermione nodded mutely, feeling butterflies crawling up her throat, she kept quiet and kept her face in the crook of Sirius's neck, breathing in his scent as he stepped into the fireplace, she felt his voice rumble in his chest and then he was once again stepping out, he placed her gently onto the ground as the group of people stared at them, Hermione kept a vice like grip on Sirius's hand.

"Hello" she murmured softly, glancing up at Sirius for reassurance.

The group burst out into whispers, but no one replied to Hermione who was beginning to feel very much like a sideshow.

"you must be the Grangers" a grandfatherly voice cut through the noise, the group parted like the red see to allow a tall man with neon orange robes to step through, a severe looking lady on his left side and a grizzled pirate man on his right.

"Yes, I'm Dan this is my wife Helen and our daughter Hermione, James explained that you could answer some questions that we have" Dan spoke up drawing the attention onto himself and his wife.

"Mr. Potter is most certainly correct, I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts my name is Albus Dumbledore why don't we all sit down, and I can explain further?" Dumbledore's presence was like a soothing balm to the group and they moved as a unit to a table, all sitting down with a flourish, James and Lily conjured chairs for Dan and Helen, but Hermione scrambled onto Sirius's lap not wanting to be separated from him, she found the pirate man staring at her, so she stared right back, her little jaw set.

Sirius tried unsuccessfully to hide his chuckle as a cough, seeing the approval in Moody's one good beady eye.

"Now, the Grangers are here on personal invite from myself and I trust them please no questions as it is a rather sensitive subject" Dumbledore spoke with absoloute authority as he eyed up a young plump woman who looked angered over something

"Dumbledore surely a child-" she began to argue

"Molly, I assure you Miss Granger is perfectly fine, if it gets too much then she and Sirius can leave, can't you?" he glanced at the girl who nodded her affirmation, Sirius following a second behind.

"Now the situation with Voldemort has calmed down somewhat they have stopped the random attacks from what we have seen while the attacks have become less frequent, when they do attack it is with precision and bigger targets we have attempted to counteract these attacks but have so far failed-"

"Miserably! What do I tell you Albus? CONSTANT VIGILANCE! It's the only way to get these bastards, they've gotten a hold of most of the ministry as well those cowering dogs wanting it to be over but refusing to use the necessary force!" the pirate man slammed his fist against the table for emphasis causing half the table to jump, Hermione found him to be delightful. Dumbledore looked faintly amused by the man having heard this speech many times.

"yes, thank you Alastor now as I was saying, we need to be able to figure out how they are getting their information-"Dumbledore was cut off again but by Hermione this time.

"obvious isn't it?" she wasn't asking the room in particular mostly speaking with herself.

"what do you mean miss granger?" Dumbledore peered over his spectacles at the young girl.

"well there's a spy in the room, that's how I'd do it" she explained to him "in every war there's always spies, at least in the books and movies, you've gotta plan for the spies right? Why not use an oath?"

"how do you know about oaths?" he inquired

"I read about it, Oaths are super important to the wizarding world if you make everyone swear on their magic to not reveal any of the secrets then you can trust them but if they refuse then you know that they're not trustworthy and you get rid of them" she explained patiently, a Know-It-All tone coming out.

Mad-eye looked ecstatic at the suggestion of the little girl, she was most certainly related to him, she'd make an excellent auror and training could never start to early after all.

"Miss Granger I trust everyone in this room with my life" Dumbledore spoke his tone slightly patronizingly which caused Hermione to bristle slightly.

"Then you're dead!" she declared loudly, she was frustrated couldn't he see how stupid that was?

"Now listen here, Dumbledore is a great man and no one here would ever-"Molly had spoken up, her eyes narrowed

"He might be great but he's still a man" Hermione pointed out "if this is all so important than why aren't you taking measures to ensure that it stays secret?"

"we have faith in each other Miss. Granger and we will continue to carry on the way we always have" Dumbledore spoke up with finality in his tone, Hermione not wanting to push it bit her tongue, huffing slightly as she crossed her arms.

The meeting continued, and Hermione quickly lost interest, if they didn't want to listen to her good advice, well she simply wouldn't listen to them. She quickly realized that she didn't have a good book to read so, twisting slightly, she curled up against Sirius and fell asleep.

Hermione woke up some time later as the meeting was wrapping up, Hermione stayed cuddled up to Sirius feeling very comfortable, she noticed that her mother and father looked rather serious, they were frowning lightly, no doubt pondering the information that they had been given. Hermione looked up and saw Sirius smiling down at her.

"have a good nap?" he teased lightly

"yes, Sirius why is that lady looking at you?" Hermione asked innocently, Sirius glanced up to see Molly Weasley glaring at him and Marlene MacKinnon throwing him longing glances.

"uh, which one?" he replied

"both" she blinked her honey gold eyes sleepily, sitting up straighter, Sirius's hand going automatically to her back to help support her.

"Well Molly hates me and Marlene, well, she's always been a little obsessed" Sirius muttered feeling uncomfortable under the stares of the two women, both judgemental cows he wanted to avoid. Thankfully Dumbledore stood up, their que to leave for Hogwarts.

A/N:

12 pages, 6,109 words without this Author's note, I felt like this chapter was getting to long for you all? I'm unsure if you guys would rather have chapters around this length or to have longer chapters? Last thing I want is for you all to get bored and end up despising my story unless you already do of course lol, this feels kind of filler but it's also a set up for the next chapter. Please let me know if you would like for the chapters to be longer.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: thanks for all the reviews! 😊 so Harry was born 31st July 1979 and Hermione 19th September 1979 it is now August of 1981 making both Harry and Hermione two years old, Hermione nearing three, I hope that clears everything up and I'm glad your all enjoying it.

As always, I do not own this it's simply for fun, this belongs to JK Rowling I'm simply playing in the sandbox.

They stepped through the fireplace and into the office Hermione was in love immediately, the office was incredibly spacious with all sorts of gadgets and things makings noises and lighting up, there was a very large desk with a throne like chair, behind it sat portraits that moved and talked! The walls were covered in books but the most interesting thing in the room was the beautiful bird creature sat on a perch next to the desk, it's feathers seemed to dance with fire and its black eyes were sharp and bright.

"that is my familiar Fawkes he is a phoenix" Dumbledore explained Fawkes sung a few notes before flying over to perch on a chair.

"why don't you go along and talk with Fawkes while I have a boring conversation with the adults?" Dumbledore encouraged Hermione, who nodded reluctant to not join in on the interrogation but wanting to find out more about Fawkes, who let out a beautiful song, quickly making a decision she headed over to the phoenix.

The adults crowded around the desk as the headmaster took his place behind it, he leant back in his chair, fingers entwined as he tried to pick out the right words to explain the conundrum.

"I think it would be in our best interest that we have full disclosure" He decided, seeing Sirius pale in the corner of his eye.

"what I'm about to tell you might cause some distress but I would like you to both try and remain calm magic can be harnessed, it can be directed but it is a separate entity of its own mind and will. It will do what is best for its chosen ones, Sirius did not cause this magic did and it's something to be celebrated" Dumbledore explained to the grangers

They glanced at each other worry, steeling themselves.

"Sirius seems a lovely man what has happened?" Helen asked in a motherly tone, slightly worried for the boy who looked as if he was about to faint.

"Sirius and your Hermione has…bonded" Dumbledore spoke tentatively

"well of course they have! Get along famously those two" Helen smiled

"ah, no Mrs. Granger their magic has bonded, this means that Sirius and Hermione -when she's grown- will be married" Dumbledore saw them stiffen in realisation.

"I'm Sorry" Helen's smile had turned icy and dagger sharp "did you say my two-year-old daughter is engaged to Sirius?"

"essentially? yes" Dumbledore said

Dan immediately lunged for Sirius who was dragged out of the way by an agile James, Hermione hearing the chairs turn over, turned to see what was going on, a strange buzzing entered her ears as she saw her daddy turn purple in the face, pointing his finger at Sirius, his mouth twisting angrily as he gestured, the Headmaster stood up and was speaking now, whatever he said must have calmed her daddy down because he picked the chair up and sat down, occasionally sending glares towards Sirius, a chirp from Fawkes dragged her back into her experiment of finding out exactly what familiars were capable off.

"Dan, Helen, I understand that this is somewhat shocking for you but please allow me to explain" Dumbledore discreetly pulled out his wand giving a few flicks and the Grangers immediately calmed down.

"what young Hermione and Sirius share is something known as a Golden Bond, they are soul mates as it were, this bond would have occurred regardless of when their paths met it seems that they have just met a lot earlier than originally planned. Of course, nothing will occur until Hermione is of an age to start understanding the pull she will have to young Mr. Black" Dumbledore explained calmly sucking on a lemon drop.

"what about the age gap?" Helen worried, people might talk, they certainly did about her and her husband.

"nineteen years is nothing to a magical being Mrs. Granger, we witch and wizards are capable of living for hundreds of years so we don't particularly concern ourselves with such trifle matters" Dumbledore explained calmly.

"I guess this is welcome to the family then" Dan spoke grudgingly, he'd have to keep an eye on Sirius Black make sure he was right for his princess.

"not so fast" a gruff voice barked roughly, spinning everyone turned to see Mad-eye Moody in the entrance leaning heavily on his cane, still getting used to the new leg, magical-eye whizzing.

Everyone in the room jumped apart from Helen and Hermione, who was staring at the pirate man in awe. He launched himself into the room with a rough sense of grace until he stood towering over Helen, she coolly raised an eyebrow at him and he gave a bark of laughter.

"yea, you're a Moody alright, I'm Mad-Eye Moody but you can call me Alastor or Uncle Al, my brother was a crazy son of a bitch but marrying a Lestrange? That's something else" he grinned causing him to look far more insane. He pulled out his wand a conjured a chair for himself.

"now what protective measures are we taking? I'm obviously going to be coming around and adding charms and whatnot" Alastor looked at Dumbledore, who looked surprised.

"Moody, my friend, I hardly think-

"exactly right Dumbledore you hardly think, this family is my kin which makes them a target, their related to those psycho brothers and that crazy bint Bellatrix will take it as a personal affront that she isn't married into the true succession of house lestrange and the fact that little girl is the future Lady Black? You know that they are a target" he slammed the cane against the floor causing sparks to shoot off.

"I'm disowned Moody remember?" Sirius pointed out, he still agreed with everything he said though, he wanted Hermione protected fully along with Helen and Dan.

"you think your psycho Mother was actually capable of disowning you? She doesn't have full Matriarchal rights so all she did was blast your pretty face off the family tree, you're still the heir Black, making my great niece the future Lady Black and you'll be damned if I don't protect her" Moody grinned at the shocked look on Sirius's face.

"either way I don't care I'm not having anything to do with that bloody family never" He declared crossing his arms defiantly

"you say that now, but we'll see now Dumbledore what you are going to do?" Moody turned his eyes onto him "I think the fidelius charm should do the trick" he nodded to himself, no protection was too small for his family, he thought he had lost everything when he had lost Adelaide but now that he had found his family he wasn't letting it go, never, he was lax with her but not this time.

"Now Moody let's not get overdramatic, shall we?" Dumbledore tried placating him.

"Headmaster we think that it should be done as well, after all we know how difficult it is besides Lily can cast the charm it wouldn't be any skin of your nose" James stepped in. Dumbledore rose an eyebrow at the stubborn set of the faces before him.

"very well if you think it is best we however need a secret keeper" He glanced around the group, pondering who could step up into that responsibility.

"Sirius will do it or Lily, I can always cast the charm in her place" James tossed out easily

"Sirius is your secret keeper" Dumbledore frowned in confusion, becoming suspicious as Sirius seemed to find his black leather jacket incredibly interesting.

"we switched"

"you did what? And you didn't decide to tell me do you realise how stupid that is?" Dumbledore snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously in irritation.

James flushed slightly, Lily looking away bashfully as Remus suddenly found the ends of his sweater fascinating Sirius looked defiantly back at Dumbledore.

"they knew I was the secret keeper, so we had it switched in case of my death, that way even if I was killed they would still be protected" he explained solemnly.

Dumbledore dragged a wrinkled hand down his face before nodding in acceptance, they did after all have their own free will, he still remembered the berating he got of Minerva for trying to use people like pawns "very well, do what you must but who is the newest secret keeper?"

"it's wormy, surprise, right? No one would think of him, Sirius thought it up absolutely genius of him" James looked pleased with himself, Dumbledore looked defeated.

"very well but we must keep this all quiet your safety is my top priority" Dumbledore gave in.

They spoke for a little while longer before Dan and Helen realising the time decided that they needed to get home and get Hermione to bed, they invited Alastor over the next day as they wanted to get to know him better and vice versa, that night Hermione sleepily asked if she would be able to get a familiar, having become besotted with Fawkes.

The next day Hermione was up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed she couldn't wait to interrogate her uncle plus Harry, James and Lily were coming over she hoped that Sirius and Remus would come as well.

When they all arrived, they had a lot of talking to do and despite Hermione trying to listen in, Remus had waved his wand and the irritating buzzing was back, so she carried on reading with Harry who enjoyed listening to her talking as he tried to read along with her. When they finally all sat down to eat she was practically vibrating with excitement.

"uncle Al will you tell me about being a auror? And catching the bad guys? And cases you've done?" she blurted out quickly not particularly minding her manners in the situation.

He looked surprised for a second, he had worried that perhaps he had scared the young girl with him being not so…family friendly but that determined stare of hers made him think she was made of stern stuff and perhaps a future Gryffindor?

"being a Auror is incredibly hard work but extremely rewarding, you have to be versatile and capable of adapting and good instincts are important but you either have it or not but I'm sure you do" he tried to soften his gruff voice, but it wasn't to any avail, Hermione however was enchanted by the man. After their food was finished she dragged him over to the sofa and continued to interrogate him when she found out james and Sirius were also aurors she dragged them into the conversation as well, she really enjoyed the idea of becoming a lawyer, Sirius made it sound wicked cool.

Hermione had thoroughly enjoyed her day, she was sad when she found out that Remus wouldn't be able to visit a lot anymore because he had to go and do some important things that he had refused to tell her about despite her pouting, Sirius too was apparently going to be busy and James and Lily said that they wouldn't be able to come around often which meant she and Harry were hardly going to be seeing each other but Uncle Al had promised to visit often and bring his friend Kingsley so she at least felt a lot better about that. He had gotten into a slight argument about her name though, she didn't understand it herself, but Uncle Al had wanted her to changer her last name to her nana's maiden name, something about protection, Kingsley had managed to distract her but not before she heard her parents conceding to think about it.

Hermione had slipped into a slight mood at not being surrounded by her new friends, Moody had helped Hermione she had been thrilled at meeting kingsley who had insisted that she call him Kings, He had been lovely to her, talking about books and teaching her some fun facts, he had even put up with her little tea parties and she had an amazing magical photograph of her, kings and uncle Al sitting around a pink plastic table with tiara's and feathered boas on them. She had sent numerous letters to Sirius, Remus and the potters and had numerous letters in return, she loved to draw pictures for Lily and James who always commented on her pretty drawings, for Sirius she sent him a letters filled with questions and he sent an avalanche back filled with answers and sometimes books, with Remus she swapped ideas for recipes as her new hobby was cooking along with learning to play the piano, she thought the music to be very pretty but very complicated and challenging which was a bonus at times.

It was a week before her birthday before she saw Sirius again, he was stood in the doorway of the living room as she was going downstairs for breakfast, she essentially tumbled down the stairs in her excitement as she propelled herself forward into his arms at the third step from the bottom.

"SIRIUS" her excited shriek pierced his eardrums as he span her around

"Hello kitten" he grinned down at her, he had a recent scar cutting through his eyebrow and some scruff on his neck, but he positively beamed at her as he placed her onto the ground "you will never guess where you are being taken today" he winked cheekily

"where?" she demanded immediately in excitement, suddenly there was noise from the inside of the living room and Remus, Alastor and Kings came out having chatted with her parents.

"don't worry Dan, Helen we'll be in and out in no time" Kingsley grinned down at her as she glomped onto his leg before quickly moving onto Uncle Alastor and Remus who picked her up, hugging her tightly.

"hello Remus" she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, choking him slightly "I made you some double chocolate fudge brownies with caramel, Lily said that she'd help me send it to you but now she doesn't have to and you can try it, mum and dad wouldn't let me because sugar rots your teeth but I snuck a bite" she whispered the last part quietly so that the others couldn't hear, apart from Sirius thanks to his heightened hearing.

"can't wait to try it" Remus grinned slightly down at the girl, his back was slightly hurting from his most recent transformation and chocolate seemed heavenly to him right now, she beamed happily at him before squirming to be let down, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the kitchen, she clambered slightly unsteadily onto the counter, using Remus to bear her weight against as she stretched and grabbed the container full of treats. Giggling she sat on top of the counter, prying open the lid before offering it up to Remus first. He grinned at her before quickly grabbing one, biting into it and moaning in delight.

"this is great Hermione, you have a gift" he complimented her before grabbing another and wolfing it down, pun intended.

"thank you, Remus, Uncle Al helped me because I can't use the oven myself" she explained breaking a brownie into halves, stuffing one half into her mouth and the other into her pocket. She quickly scrambled down from the counter and scurried out into the hallway where everyone had congregated, she tugged the pants leg of Sirius, who picked her up. She quickly slid the other half of the brownie out of her pocket before stuffing it into Sirius's open mouth, he chewed quickly, chocolate had always been hit and miss thanks to his Animagus but this was good.

"how about a pastry or cake next time?" he winked at her, she lit up in excitement at the prospect of getting new recipes.

"what's on the agenda today?" Helen asked it was decided that Dan and Helen would be coming along, despite the risk that bringing them into diagon alley presented, Moody felt comfortable that he could control any situation and he had already set up several escape routes.

"go to diagon alley head to Gringotts open the account perhaps talk to the goblins about Hermione's last name, if you've come to a decision about that, then head to flourish and blotts for some books I know Hermione has already got herself a mountain of books but her birthday is coming up, then perhaps magical menagerie she's been hankering for a familiar and she might find hers in their after that, back home, best not to push it" he explained as Helen got Hermione to run upstairs get changed, she happily rushed back down in excitement at hearing she might be getting her familiar, she had accidentally put her top on backwards but with a flick of Kings wand it righted itself, she hoped she'd never get used to magic!

Hermione had gone through the green flames again, happily clutching onto Sirius again as he stepped through and into a bar, she felt a twinge of disappointment at how empty the bar was, the group quickly rushed through and into a back alley, Hermione realised that she, Sirius and her parents were in the middle of the group. She eagerly watched Moody as he tapped against the wall with his wand in a certain pattern and the wall split down the middle and shuffled apart showing Hermione a bustling diagon alley. The alley was lit up with people in all shapes and sizes with wonderfully colourful robes, the chatter in the alley was loud but it seemed to have an air of false cheerfulness along with tension, as Moody stomped his way down to the large, white building people parted like the red sea, Moody cutting an imposing figure as he snarled at everyone who got in his way, Hermione decided to play with Sirius's inky black hair and hide in his neck until they got into the bank, she didn't like the stares.

When they entered the imposing building, Sirius nodded his head to a teller behind the counter who came out immediately to show them to a private room, the goblins didn't care about blood status, they cared about money and who could make them richer, the Blacks had proven their worth on that matter. The group took their seats around the carved table, Hermione perching on Sirius's lap as she glanced curiously at the carvings in the wall.

A moment later two goblins came into the room taking seats on the opposite side of the table several large thick files following after them.

"Lord Black" the one on the left greeted "your mother came in several years ago attempting to have you stricken from the family, we, of course, ignored such a ludicrous order now on to your future-"

"BloodFang! I think that's quite enough" Sirius interrupted loudly, his hands going and clamping around Hermione's ears, she looked up at him in curiosity, but he ignored it, glaring at the goblin slightly who looked cowed he let his hands fall from Hermione's ears. "why don't you introduce your colleague?" he diverted the subject roughly.

"it is a pleasure to meet you Lord Black, I am Straas I have been appointed the Lady's accountant due to the…influx of information" he stated cautiously casting a careful glance at Sirius, who didn't seem too furious.

"with Miss. Granger's, ah, mixed heritage and her parents lack of magic we will need a magical guardian to make any and all decisions for Hermione when she is in this world until she reaches the age of adulthood" He explained "the guardian will take care of her estates, her investments, meet with partners in business, take care of the marriage contract- if any arises of course- look after the seat on the wizengamont that sort of dealings, so the person you choose will have to be someone that you trust" the goblin looked at her parents seriously, wanting them to understand what the situation entails.

Dan and Helen had spoken in depth with both Alastor and Sirius through letters and they knew who they wanted to be Hermione's magical guardian and had decided to take the route of ambush, slightly cowardly of them but needs must.

"we would like Remus Lupin to take up the mantle of guardian if he's willing of course" Dan spoke up staring at Remus seriously while Helen beamed proudly.

Remus paled dramatically, how could they think him worthy of such an honour? "what?" he was gobsmacked.

"over the last couple of months the way you have interacted with Hermione has been wonderful, you're very careful of her, the letters you send her are full of affection and you've been teaching her a lot of interesting facts we know Sirius is busy being Godfather to Harry, Alastor wants to keep his relation secret so that we don't become even more of a target and Kingsley is rather busy with his own house affairs so we would be honoured if you became Hermione's in loco parentis, the regent of the family until Hermione reaches adulthood" Dan grinned at his shocked face, Hermione was slightly confused as she turned the phrases over in her head, she had only just started learning Latin, but she knew a regent was someone who would care for her was that it?

"I-I don't know" Remus was floored, he was a monster, but they trusted him?

"there would of course be a monthly stipend placed into your account of 10,000 galleons amounting to a total of one million eight hundred thousand for when she reaches the age of seventeen where a final payment of fifty thousand galleons will be deposited into your account" Straas stated plainly as if he was discussing the time of day.

"but that is so much…" Remus trailed of in uncertainty

"as it stands within the Lestrange vault there is an amount of ten million in galleons alone, excluding properties, business assets, books, jewellery and other such things, we goblins take pride in making our clients more money than possible, I imagine it is the Lestrange name you are wanting your daughter to take up?" he queried the Grangers who nodded their heads in agreement. It had been decided that having Hermione take up the last name of Lestrange she would be amounted a certain amount of protection being a pureblood and she would have control over the Lestrange vault and her cousins giving the order a tactical opportunity.

The meeting had gone smoothly, Remus had finally accepted the title of Hermione's regent and under the encouragement of Dan and Helen he had Rodolphous, Rabastan and Bellatrix removed immediately from any and all vaults of the Lestrange family, they had decided to wait until the next wizengamont meeting to have them formally disowned and banished from the family, which would occur in December.

As they stepped out into the mid-day sun, Hermione looked down at the ring that she had on her hand now, it looked rather pretty in the sunlight, the ring depicted a raven its wings spread claws gripping a large gem of Amethyst. She smiled up at Remus who still looked slightly dazed on his finger there was a large signet ring, depicting the Lestrange Family crest, two ravens, their wings spread, claws interlocked over a large gen of Amethyst with two wands crossed underneath, written in script was the family motto 'Un jeu différent' which translated into 'A different game'. He felt as if his hand was being weighed down, he sighed briefly wondering how he had been dragged into this but a small hand clutched at his and he glanced down to see honey-hold eyes staring up at him and he grinned in affection, he saw Hermione as a little sister, as his own cub really now that the process had gone through and he was now her regent, he was wrapped around her finger and he didn't mind so much.

"can we go to the bookstore next Remus?" she asked innocently swinging their hands together as she bounced up the alleyway, surrounded by her friends and family.

"course little cub whatever you want" she beamed up at him and hurriedly dragged him to the bookstore.

Hermione had been restricted to five books which irritated her but she accepted that she could always come back and get even more, she had picked some advance level protection spells, a book that depicted different forms of transportation another on Animagus's, a book of funny pranks that Sirius had convinced her she needed along with a big book that had a multitude of different branches of magic and a book of magical creatures, Remus had paid for everything using the newly acquired signet ring, he had felt slightly weird spending the money that wasn't _his,_ but the grangers had insisted that he was regent and they trusted him to take care of everything, they had their own money regardless but it was still a massive responsibility that Remus was slightly terrified off.

They headed over to magical menagerie next, Sirius decided to warn Hermione entered "you know kitten you might not be able to find your familiar today"

"I know Sirius but I have a feeling" she smiled toothily back at him

Half an hour later, Hermione came stumbling out of the shop, happily holding onto a half-kneazle roughly the same size of her, she had been looking at a very pretty barn owl when he had jumped in between them hissing and spitting at the owl before winding his way around her legs, purring loudly. She had promptly fallen in love with the cat and picked him up, ignoring the shop keepers attempts to get her to pick a fluffy white kitten, no she insisted she wanted her crookshanks.

"Honey, maybe Kingsley can take crookshanks for a while?" Her mother asked, why Hermione had wanted the largest beast in there she didn't know and the fact he would only get bigger? She nearly fainted.

Kingsley hesitantly took a step forward and Crookshanks stared into his eyes, daring him to try and take him away from his mistress 'try it' he seemed to say 'and I will rip your face off' Kingsley really didn't want to test that theory. Alastor was practically skipping he was delighted by the choice Hermione had made the squashed face beastie was perfect for her! It was intelligent and more than capable of taking care of his niece, he would give a nice boost to her magic, help to regulate it being a magical creature himself. Sirius was beyond amused, of course his little kitten had to get the fiercest creature in the room, her compassion was clear to see and Crookshanks quite clearly wasn't being taken away from her, as a dog he had to admire the loyalty already shown plus the cat seemed to like him, brownie points.

The septet finally made their way home, the floo network took a bit of jostling as Hermione and Crookshanks along with an adult couldn't all fit in the same fireplace so eventually Remus took Hermione and Sirius took Crookshanks, who purred happily sensing this male was acceptable, even if he was a dog.

Bellatrix Lestrange was furious, she was the pureblooded daughter of the blacks! She was married to the eldest brother of the Lestrange family, she was the Lady Lestrange and this vile, disgusting creature dared to deny her?

"I'm sorry Mrs. Lestrange you cannot access the vaults" the goblin spoke in a monotone voice but it's eyes were flashing in satisfaction.

"LADY Lestrange your incompetent beast! Who dares to deny me the right to my own vault?" she snarled in anger

"the vault has been closed to you, your husband and your younger brother on the order of the regent of House Lestrange, I suggest madam that you take it up with him" the goblin replied

"My husband is the patriarch of House Lestrange!" she was incensed

"yes, until the true line of succession came back, which it has" the goblin revealed several large pointed fangs as he smiled

"I need something from my vault" Bellatrix was worried, she had placed her lord's possession in the vault of Lestrange at his behest but now that it was closed to her? The punishment would be severe.

"let me in!" she demanded, enraged, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the goblin, only to feel cool steel at the base of her throat. Glancing carefully, she saw she was encircled by a group of goblins guards their weapons pointed at her with deadly accuracy.

"I think it's time you left" the goblin stared her down, black eyes burning into hers, smile sharp.

She let out a screech of rage, uncaring of the people staring around her and stormed outside of the bank, thinking carefully she finally came to the realisation that it was that uppity mudblood! Daring to steal her birth right! Her previous targets had been the Longbottom's, but she would simply pass the privilege of killing those blood traitors along to barty, while she and her husband and brother attended to that vile usurper of bloodlines!

She would start planning immediately, when her Master had dealt with the Potters, surely he would reward his favourite servant with that little bitch and her family for little bella to play with? Plan forming in her mind she twisted on the spot.

Hermione's birthday had been a resounding success, she had spent the entire day being pampered which was fun but the best part was spending time with her big family, she loved being around them, they made her magic sing especially when she was around Sirius so she stayed close to him although Remus was a second favourite he made her feel calm and protected when she was in his arms she felt like she could take on the world and that they'd bow down.

She had gotten a lot of presents, books along with wizarding toys, she had been presented with her own broom and James had gotten her a mini set of Falmouth Falcons quidditch robes while Sirius exclaimed blasphemy, she giggled happily at the little magic show that Sirius and Remus put on for everyone, Sirius even turned into a dog at the end of it! Uncle Al and Kings had gone in together to get her some special dragonhide robes that would help to protect her, they said that when she grew so would the robes and so long as she didn't go walking into fiendfyre she would be fine. Hermione curled up that night next to a bear-like dog, she had insisted that Sirius stay and cuddle as it was her birthday, she had gotten what she wanted as it was her birthday and she looked so damn cute in that little princess dress. Hermione felt secure and protected as Sirius curled around her, his head resting on her hip boned, his silver eyes glowing as he stared into the relative darkness of her room, he knew that a storm was coming, could feel it in his bones so he stayed up keeping vigil over his sleeping kitten.

That night Bellatrix happily skipped outside of the blood stained house, nodding for fenrir to go play with the remains as she wiped off the blood drenched knife, the old nanny for the mudblood had been unable to tell her where she lived, no doubt to the use of a fidelius charm but she had gotten plenty of other information along with a general location Ottery St Catchpole, linking arms with her husband she grinned maliciously as they twisted on the spot, muggle hunting had always riled her up. The plan was going splendidly.

"are you sure this is okay?" Dan fretted slightly as Alastor carried on excavating the basement along with kingsley.

"yea it's fine, don't worry the ministry won't notice" Alastor grunted back as he pushed more of his magic into the wards he had created, stepping back for Kingsley to take a turn to layer more charms ontop of the ones he had placed, pushing more magic into the wards, when they were done the magic was swirling with power a veritable Pandora's box but a hell of a lot nastier, Moody grinned thinking of the special little 'presents' he had placed into the wards.

He grabbed the three watches that he had picked out keying them to the wards and putting the landing point in the middle of the room, satisfied that they would get the grangers through he turned towards them with a needle in hand, taking a drop of their blood which he then smeared against the watches they flashed a bright blue colour before settling in.

"right wear these all the time, no exceptions! The moment that you are in danger no matter where or when you slam your hands onto the watch and say the activation word which is 'Excalibur' alright? The portkeys will transfer you into the saferoom an alarm will be sent to me, Kingsley, Remus and Sirius who will then come and deal with the danger and then we will then get you out, there is food, water, sleeping materials, books, medical care and much more in the room in case you need to stay for an extended period of time, the likelihood is slim but constant vigilance do you hear?" he spoke his tone serious as he gave the watches to Dan and Helen, helping Hermione to put on her's.

"yes, Uncle Al" Hermione nodded her head.

Time was crawling by and Hermione was feeling anxious, she still read and played along with Harry when the potters were able to visit but she kept glancing out the window, fidgeting in her seat, nibbling her bottom lip and tugging at her hair. Hermione was baking with Lily when Lily noticed the constant eye darting around the place.

"Hermione what's up?" Lily asked gently, Hermione jumped anxiously biting down on her lips

"Something's wrong isn't there?" Hermione spoke boldly, she had seen the tension but lately the hair on the back of her neck were constantly flying up, unless she was wrapped up in someone's arms she felt as if she was being stalked, hunted. "I know that there is that evil man and his followers and he's trying to hurt people but that Sirius and Remus and Alastor and Kings are trying to stop him, I know that it's dangerous but lately it's felt a lot worse" she rushed out in a large breath, her cheeks flushed and tears filling her eyes.

Lily took in the sight of the three-year-old little girl that was _far_ too smart for her own good, Merlin knew the chaos she would reign when she and Harry got to Hogwarts, picking up the girl she smoothed her riotous curls down, softly humming as Hermione let out a few tears and sniffles.

"sweetie, yes it's dangerous right now and there is a bad man who is trying to hurt people, but we have people whose helping to stop him, there is something coming but I feel like it's going to be the end soon okay?" she gently stroked Hermione's hair as the child calmed down, nodding her head in acceptance to Lily's words.

"now did you know that Sirius birthday is coming up? How about you and your mum figure out a gift for him?" she smiled at how Hermione was distracted, a mission for her amazing mind to focus on.

It took Hermione neigh on a month to figure out what she wanted to get for Sirius, and the answer of course came from a book, the big book of protection spells set off an idea in her head, she had worried immensely about Sirius ever since she figured out that he was at the front of this war, leaping off the sofa, she quickly seeked out her mother.

Her mother was stood in the kitchen, a yellow sundress on, her hair pulled upwards in a bun as she worked on lunch for the three of them.

"mum can we go to the market tomorrow please? I know what I want to get for Sirius" Hermione's voice was neigh on breathless as she bounced restlessly on the balls of her feet, her mother glanced down at her little girl, loving the sparkle in her eyes.

"of course, sweetie" her mother acquiesced

The next day Hermione dragged her mother determinedly around the stalls of the market looking for the perfect ring. Stopping at a particular stall she carefully looked through the rings before she found the perfect one. A Filigree Celtic Knot Ring with Trim, from the looks of it, the ring was made of gold and white gold a nice contrast picking it up she asked the vendor how much, realising how cheap it was she quickly snapped it up along with a cord to turn it into a necklace. When they got home that afternoon she snuck Remus's wand away when he was distracted, slipping upstairs she stared at the book of protection spells along with the wand movements she carefully and cautiously waved the wand, who seemed disgruntled at being snuck away but still worked for her, she felt the thrill of using a wand and the magic flowing from her into the wand and then into the ring. She wasn't sure which charms were best so logically she should use all of them?

Perhaps, Hermione reflected she shouldn't have used them all, she cautiously stared down at the glowing ring, it didn't burn but she could feel the magic practically singing to her, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs she dived under the bed hurriedly hiding the ring in the box that she had gotten with it, flipping the book open to a random page, she jumped as Remus opened the door.

"Little cub" his voice was stern as she hung her head.

"Remus" she mumbled, knowing that she had been caught

"wand, now" he held out his hand

"I'm sorry" she muttered handing over the wand, scuffing the carpet with her toes.

"why did you take it little cub?" he asked gently crouching down in front of her

"I just wanted to cast a spell is all, I was curious" she explained hurriedly, hoping Remus wouldn't dig any deeper.

"you wanted to create some flowers?" Remus questioned because, of course, he had to.

"yea for mum" she twisted her top in between her fingers looking guilty

"why didn't you just ask?" Remus asked in exasperation, rolling his eyes slightly "you know I would help you little cub"

"wanted to do it myself" she argued, her eyes blazing defiantly

"Hermione, it's dangerous for someone as young as you to play with a wand or to try and use you magic without supervision, yes you are a lot smarter than those your age but you are still at the end of the day three little cub, it's frustrating being a lot smarter and ahead of everyone else where you can think at a certain level but are physically held back but for your safety little cub, promise not to do it again" Remus kept his voice stern, an image of Hermione accidentally blowing herself and the house up flashing in his mind eye, causing moony to come close to the surface.

"I'm sorry remus, I just wanted to surprise mum" Hermione felt tears rise in her eyes as she flushed with shame, she felt bad for doing it she knew it was naughty to take things without permission and to lie, she figured that a wand was like a knife- not to be used without supervision but she had gone and done that, her cheeks flushed in horror.

"it's alright little cub just don't do it again" Remus sighed heavily, not wanting to see her cry as he pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that for a while before remus pulled back and showed Hermione how to cast the spell properly, she didn't do it herself, but she took a long look and committed it to memory, thank goodness for her eidetic memory.

As Halloween approached Hermione felt a rush of something, apprehension perhaps, she felt excitement but also a rush of tension, she felt freezing fingers tauntingly dancing up and down her spine. On the 31st of October 1981, Hermione clutched onto a visiting Sirius, letting out a cry every time he tried to leave, Remus feeling the same anxiety stayed close to the Grangers, his eyes glowing a bright yellow all through the day and well into the night by the time midnight rolled around he was pacing up and down every five seconds going and looking out the window.

"something's wrong" he muttered insistently to Sirius "I'm sending a Patronus to Moody to go and have a look something feels off"

"I'll send one to Dumbledore" Sirius replied pulling out his wand, worried himself but not wanting to let his kitten out of his sight but wanting someone to check up on them, he felt torn between the two duties of his, but he was sure Dumbledore and Moody could contain any problem that might arise.

They waited anxiously as their patronouses were sent off a lioness and a wolf bounding out of the window, Sirius knew it was slightly selfish of him, but he kept a tight grip on Hermione, certain something was occurring. Two hours later, Hermione was softly snoring against Sirius's broad chest when the fireplace roared to life, a sombre Dumbledore clambered out, followed swiftly by a cry Mcgonagall holding a small bundle as tears ran unchecked down her cheeks a disturbed Moody came afterwards.

"Sirius-"

"NO" Sirius leapt to his feet handing Hermione swiftly off to Remus who clung tightly to Hermione

"my dear boy, you have to understand we tried-"

"where's peter?" Sirius asked in complete denial

"it seems that peter has decided that he no longer wished to align himself with the order" Dumbledore spoke clinically, his voice detached. Remus felt his entire world crumbling as he collapsed back onto the sofa,

"I'LL KILL HIM" Sirius roared, unhinged causing Hermione to startle awake, Sirius whipped out his wand and lunged for the front door but Moody swiftly moved fling a Petrificus Totalus at him, causing him to topple over. Moody huffed heavily, his own emotions catching up to him but remaining stoic. He lifted Sirius onto the couch placing a sticking charm on him before taking the body bind curse off.

"we have aurors after him right now boy, the bodies of the potters have been removed according to our primary reports Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort arrived at the potter household at 11pm accompanied by the one known as Peter Pettigrew, it is confirmed that Peter Pettigrew was the one to tell Voldemort of the Potter's whereabouts as he was their secret keeper, Voldemort entered the property where he was faced down by James potter as his wife and child went to flee, Voldemort sent the killing curse at James potter and he died instantaneously, Voldemort then proceeded to the nursery where Lily Potter stood in front of her son, it is thought that Lily Potter was attempting to shield Harry as her body was found in front of the crib, when Voldemort had dispatched of Lily Potter he then continued to throw the killing curse at one Harry Potter but it rebounded hitting Voldemort instead, one Harry Potter was found by myself and Dumbledore and we have preceded to bring Harry to his Godfather and close relatives" Moody kept all of his emotions locked up tight, treating the case as if it were anything else, oh how he wished.

"Harry's okay?" Sirius mumbled, hardly daring to hope.

"A scar from the incident Mr. Black but otherwise physically unharmed" Dumbledore said emotionally this boy had been dealt a harsh blow.

Sirius stumbled to his feet and staggered over to Mcgonagall.

"give me harry, give me my boy" he demanded, she relinquished him immediately as Sirius gazed down at the young boy, he was sleeping peacefully but on his normally unblemished forehead sat a lighting scar coming from his hairline and stopping at the top of his eyebrow. He glanced desperately over to Dan and Helen, unsure and in total shock, thankfully Helen bustled forward.

"we'll set you up in one of the spare bedrooms, of course you will all be staying with us until your ready Professor Mcgonagall if you would like to assist? I'm sure with your wand we will have Remus and Sirius's rooms set up in a jiffy" Helen's no-nonsense tone helped to snap everybody out of it, Mcgonagall and Sirius, clutching tightly onto Harry following her quickly up the stairs.

"I should head off, we have some leads on Pettigrew that Shacklebot was following he will need back up" He spoke and disappeared with a pop.

"I best return to Hogwarts, it is truly a horrendous event that has taken place" Dumbledore spoke sounding resigned and tired, He looked to have aged a thousand years, looking meek and vulnerable he made his way over to the fireplace and was gone in a flurry of green flames.

"Remus? What's happened?" Hermione sounded terrified as she looked up at Remus who had tears falling silently down his cheek, he nuzzled into Hermione's hair, taking in the scent of his little cub as moony howled desperately within him for his broken pack.

"bed, little cub" his voice was hoarse and cracked and Hermione remained silent as she was carried to bed by the emotional werewolf, her little heart shattering.

Her hand struck across the little cretin's face, her veins on fire from the rage coursing through her veins.

"he is NOT dead! He is the DARK LORD! He is the most POWERFUL WIZARD ALIVE I REFUSE to believe it!" she shrieked at the cowering man

"B-Bella I saw it myself" Pettigrew cried "I need help their coming for me!"

"you should have thought of that before you betrayed them CRUCIO!" she screamed, panting as she allowed the spell to recede she watched the piteous man run away, no her lord wasn't dead, He wasn't it was that usurpers fault! All her fault! Well she'd make the bitch pay! Bellatrix's already unhinged mind fractured even further.

The mood over the Grangers household was sombre as they tried to assist Remus and Sirius in dealing with the deaths of their best friends, the betrayal of another and for Sirius becoming a Father, he had plenty of practice but he was still in shock about the whole ordeal, James was his best friend, his blood brother, his soul mate in a way and now he was…gone? He still couldn't understand it. While the rest of the wizarding world celebrated he mourned and grieved, his heart ripped and bleeding, hanging out of his cavity that had become hollow. The funerals were slightly rushed as the press had hounded him and Remus, wanting an interview or a picture of their fucking chosen one, Harry Potter, a boy who was orphaned and they wanted to celebrate that? How fucking perverse do you get? A certain bitch Rita Skeeter had been extremely forward, and he almost ripped her throat out with his fangs, if it wasn't for Helens strong presence he would of happily and skipped into a Azkaban cell. They left it for Dumbledore to deal with, not wanting to bother with anything in the outside world, they were too focused on their own family.

It wasn't until that night as he leant against the bed did he realise that it was his birthday, the 3rd of November he was twenty-one years old and he just had his entire life ripped from him, the room was bathed in shadow and he was drinking but he didn't really care, perhaps he could just take a bit too much? Go quietly? He tried to shake away those thoughts, but they stubbornly remained, and he was too tired and too numb to even bother trying.

He didn't notice the door open slightly, or the light steps of Hermione as his lips twisted into a sardonic smile and he sung quietly under his breath.

"happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday dear Sirius,

Happy birthday to me,-

"you-" the quiet voice of his kitten cut through the fogginess slightly as he took another slug. Glancing upwards he saw her, standing there like a little angel as she clutched onto some sort of box, her eyes determined.

"kitten, you should be asleep" he murmured haphazardly taking another gulp of the fire whiskey he had snuck past Remus, a bloke was allowed a drink or a bottle or three, he snorted at his little joke.

"your sad" Hermione stated

"no shit" Sirius replied raising an eyebrow

"swear" she murmured absently, boldly clambering onto his lap

"chit" he snorted placing the fire whiskey onto the floor, well away from her, he might be rat arsed, but he wasn't totally irresponsible, only most of the time.

Hermione stared at Sirius, her eyes seemingly evaluating his soul as if she was Anubis personified.

"it's your birthday" she murmured quietly

"yea" he was unsure of where this was going, quite frankly he wanted to carry on drinking, but he couldn't just shove her away, Remus would have his head and honestly, he'd rather walk of a cliff then hurt her, stupid bond.

"James and Lily are dead" she stated, he flinched harshly, must she had said it in such a clinical way?

He reached over and took another long drink.

"you're not handling this very well" she observed

"it's only been four days" he argued in his defence

"yes, and every night your drinking, you're not very sneaky you know" she replied monotone, there wasn't any scolding or judgement it was as if she was stating that it was going to rain and Sirius felt horrible, he took another slug hoping it would help to numb him.

"you won't find your answers at the bottom of a bottle" she said

"fuck did you hear that?" he grumbled staring down at her

"daddy, swear" she replied

"wanker" he snapped

"swear" she retorted

"why are you here?" he grunted in annoyance

"I live here" a smile tugged at her lips

"no, here in this room, bothering me" he specified, not in the mood to play, he just wanted to be numb

"you need me" she tilted her head to the side

"don't" he argued half-heartedly

"do" she sung back "this is the most you've talked since it happened" her eyes were lit up with knowledge, he found it irritating what right did a three-year-old have with those big honey eyes holding the secrets of the universe? It was insulting.

"Mum said that you needed time to cope, but you're not, I know that your just blocking it out and that your drinking and that you don't want to remember and you just want it to end and that you feel as if everything has gone, so here this is something so you can always know that I'll care" Hermione explained in a rush pushing the box towards him in a hurry.

Dumbly he stared down at it, before opening it, feeling the magic singing out to him, he stared down at the Celtic knot designed ring, feeling a tear slip down his cheek.

"kitten-"he trailed off nervously touching it as if it was made of glass.

"Lily told me about how you were at the front and that you was fighting the evil man so I thought that this could help, I got the ring and I um- borrowed Remus's wand and then I put on those enchantments, you remember, the ones in the book you gave me? Anyways I was unsure on which ones to use so I used them all" she grinned up at him, Sirius felt a flicker of something, he tentatively pulled the ring out, looking at the inside of the ring her noticed an engraving meum argenteum luscus, raising an eyebrow at the meaning behind the words, he felt the magic in the ring wrap around him, he felt Hermione's magic calling out for him, He slipped the ring on and felt a burst of overwhelming emotions take a hold of him, scooping up Hermione, he wrapped his arms around her and started crying like a babe.

Hermione held onto him tightly, a soft smile crossing her face that her present had managed to smack him out of the shock.

Bellatrix gave a triumphant snarl as the house's fidelius finally faded, now that mudblood bitch's magic had finally faded from this world she could attack, glancing over she saw her husband and brother in law discussing the plan of attack intensely, they kept their distance away from Fenrir as the beast was sharpening his claws in preparedness for the attack tonight. She grinned malevolently at the thought of torturing the family within before handing over that little usurper to Greyback, she was sure Lupin would enjoy that little twist of irony while greyback would enjoy getting a new pack bitch, she would deal with the fake family, kill the whelp Potter, find out where her lord and master was, kill the blood traitor and let fenrir deal with Lupin and the filthy mudblood that dared to take her name! unfortunately she had delegated to task of the Longbottom's to Barty Crouch Jr, someone who had shown true dedication to their Lord, she would have enjoyed doing it herself but needs must. She grinned as she settled in, tonight, finally would be the triumphant return of the Dark Lord!

"I'm sorry to leave you in the lurch like this Dan, but we wanted to sort some things out" Sirius spoke quietly, the pain of losing his best mate and sister still fresh in his eyes, but better than the zombie look he was wearing previously, he had showered, shaved and changed his clothing, he had also eaten something today, a major leap for him, he had also acquired a new ring that he kept fidgeting with whenever he seemed slightly overwhelmed again.

"it's alright son, you want to get Harry checked out we understand, so you'll be back tomorrow?" he asked keeping his voice gentle and soothing

Sirius jerkily nodded his head "yea, late tomorrow, turns out moody was right about the whole family thing, Lady Black apparently passed away the other night, got a letter this morning so that's a whole mess I'll have to deal with" he spun the ring around as his eyes landed on Hermione, who was drawing a colourful picture, he relaxed slightly as she gave him a beaming smile.

"well if you need anything we are here and don't feel rushed to move out too soon alright son?" Dan clapped his hand against Sirius shoulder who seemed slightly shocked at being addressed in a way, he allowed Remus to tug him towards the fireplace and then they disappeared.

"well then my lovely ladies what shall we do for the rest of the night?" Dan grinned

"MOVIES!" Hermione squealed in excitement, Dan laughed and nodded happy to be able to have a bit of a break from the magical world, the past few months had almost done him in.

The Grangers spent the rest of the day and night curled up tightly on the sofa, reaffirming the family bond as they watched movies together, Hermione fell asleep soundly but was later woken up by a crash and someone shaking her shoulder.

"Mistress, you are in danger, you must be using the portkey" a voice urged her, Hermione not quite understanding followed the orders, she slammed her hand down on the watch before speaking

"Excalibur" feeling a tug behind her navel she briefly saw her bedroom door slam open before she was staring at the inside of the panic room.

"Hermione" Her mothers and Fathers voices mixed together in blatant relief

"Mum, Dad!" she cried throwing herself into their arms "someone's broken in!"

"yes, love but we are in here and Uncle Al said that it was safe" Her father reassured as she clung to her mother.

"Mistress will be safe" a fourth voice spoke, glancing up Hermione saw a small creature about her size, with large bat like ears and big bulging eyes the colour of turquoise, it had large spindly fingers and wore nothing but a tea-cloth in the shape of a toga.

"who the bloody hell are you?" Dan yelled grabbing a cricket bat, prepared to swing it at the creature. Why Alastor had thought it a good idea to place a cricket bat inside the panic room he didn't know but he was thankful, constant vigilance indeed.

"swear" Hermione muttered from Her mother's arms

"I am Kreacher, the House-elf of the ancient and noble house of Black my Mistress passed away last night so I naturally sought out my new one" the elf explained bowing low in front of them, his hooked nose scraping the floor.

"like a butler?" Hermione inquired, ears perking up

"similar Mistress" He replied

"do you know who's breaking in?" Dan demanded

"yes sir, it is Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphous Lestrange Rabastan Lestrange and the werewolf Fenrir Greyback" Kreacher answered keeping his head lowered in deference

"why the hell are they here?" Dan asked

"they plan on killing you all" Kreacher replied readying himself for the beating

"what the fuck?" Helen exclaimed causing Hermione to look at her in shock and awe, her mother never swore!

"Bellatrix thinks that you are usurpers, line stealers, but you are not, Kreacher see's the magic he see's the bonds" he nodded to himself proudly.

"Kreacher how did you get in here?" Dan asked worried that the wards had failed, glancing at the door nervously, he wasn't sure how a cricket bat would hold up against a wand perhaps they were about to find out.

"Mistress needed me, so I came, nothing can stop a house-elf when their Mistress needs them" Kreacher pulled himself up proudly.

"Kreacher can you get Alastor and tell Kingsley to alert the authorities? And is there any way you can trap them?" Helen spoke up the plan forming in her mind.

"the Mad-eye is coming, he felt the wards go off, as for the authorities Kreacher can do that and trap the bad people but Mistress has to order me" Kreacher said as they felt a large bolt of something hit the cell door, Kreacher needed to be ordered so that he wouldn't be dismissed, a house elf was an extension of their owners, if Kreacher was ordered then the authorities couldn't take him from his mistress.

"oh, um, okay, Kreacher I, uh, order you to go do what my mum said" Hermione tried to pull herself up and seem like a Queen ordering her knight, but she thought she rather failed at that, Kreacher smiled understanding the sentiment and with a resounding crack he was gone.

Alastor was furious, he was at Longbottom manor, after a call came in about an attack on the Longbottom's he had found an insane Alice and Frank Longbottom, along with a not far off Barty Crouch when he had felt the hot burn of his wards slamming down at the grangers. He quickly had Barty hogtied and gagged while his unit moved in to deal with the crime, he quickly turned on the spot and disappeared.

He landed in a grove of trees directly opposite the Grangers front porch, seeing the ripped front door, busted windows and the starting's of a fire, he felt the urge to run in there but he wasn't some damnable Gryffindor, he was a Hufflepuff, and he wasn't about to get himself blown up, using his magical eye he saw greyback, Bellatrix, Rodolphous and Rabastan were tearing apart the house, Bellatrix looked to be enjoying herself but she was still looking for the grangers, zooming with his eyes he saw that his wards were holding strong and proud. He quickly sent of his wolverine Patronus to kingsley to get him to hurry up his arse, he didn't want to sit on his laurels.

Thankfully Kingsley and back up arrived when Bellatrix had found the panic room, she had started tearing into it when Kingsley arrived demanding an update along with some demented House-elf who kept on about his 'Mistress'.

"what the bloody hell is that elf on about?" he barked in irritation, trying to plan how to coral the bloody death eaters so that none escaped.

"apparently our princess has gone and earnt herself an elf, of the most ancient and noble house of black, apparently, he's set a ward around the house as well, so that they won't be able to get out" Kingsley rose an eyebrow as the elf puffed up proudly at having followed his Mistress's orders to the letter.

"alright, whatever" Moody decided to just roll with it, he was anxious to remove the threat from his family, his magical eye had kept observing the goings on in the family home. "it's the Lestrange's and greyback if we can get them all then I would say we've earnt ourselves a Christmas bonus"

Kingley let out a booming laugh as the mean all looked eager to get this over and done with, they quickly broke up into teams of six, Moody leading the front assault, Kingsley attacking from the back, a well-seasoned auror named Jackson taking the left ground floor, Martha taking the right ground floor and another two teams coming in from the second story to give them the height advantage. On a practiced signal from Moody the teams went rushing in, they were loud, sending off spells before Greyback could pounce or the Lestranges could swing their wands up and towards the aurors. Moody grimaced slightly at the state of the house, nothing a few cleaning spells could fix, although the elf seemed to be already putting the house to rights, nodding towards his teams he had them move in grabbing the Lestranges, placing special 'anti-magic' collars on them along with a silver muzzle on greyback, fitting he supposed.

Sirius, Remus and Harry came back to a madhouse, there were aurors surrounding the house and Sirius fearing the worst rushed forward, barging into the house he was shocked to see the domestic scene before him; Alastor, Kingsley, Hermione, Helen and Dan were sat sipping tea as Kreacher of all people was bustling around them, wearing a bloody pink frilly apron of all things.

"Hello Sirius, Remus! We were attacked but Moody's wards held up like a charm! This is kreacher apparently he's my butler?" she giggled at her own joke, but a look of concern overrode her as Sirius fell into a dead faint.

"oh dear, Remus perhaps you should sit? Wouldn't want you to squish Harry" she suggested

"Of Course," Remus nodded, collapsing into a chair.

A/N:

meum argenteum luscus= my silver eyed man

Alrighty so this was 10,663 words! 19 pages on word! Yay! Does the extra long chapter make up for the long time between updates? Sorry about that by the way, but crippling depression is a cruel mistress anyways I have to go to the hospital in two hours- tonsillitis is a megabitch- and wanted to update you guys. Please rate and review it would mean the world. Am I brilliant? Am I shit? YOU DECIDE 😉


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't own this, It belongs to JK I'm simply playing in the sandbox lol, and thanks for all the amazing reviews I'm blushing! You guys are honestly so sweet! Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter it would mean the world! 😊 💜💜💜💜 😊 and Jesus Christ this took me forever to write I'm so sorry about the delay.

The first thing he noticed was that his head hurt, like a rampaging herd of hippogriffs had a luau, when the memories came rushing back, he sat up and immediately felt violently sick.

"Master must be careful" the hated voice of his childhood rang in his ears

"fuck me" he breathed in disbelief

"swear" an angelic voice sung out, Hermione came rounding the corner, with a carboard game with the word RISK splayed across it that Kreacher immediately rushed over to help her with, Sirius dug in his robes haphazardly drawing out a galleon and tossed it with practiced ease at his jar on the mantle shelf, the coin hit the top of the mound and then bounced off back on to the carpet.

"oh, dear Sirius, you're going to need a bigger jar" Helen commented as she came in with a damp cloth placing it against his forehead "how do you feel dear?"

"shi- I mean rubbish" Sirius cast a glance at Hermione who had perked up, her favourite game of catch Sirius swearing was going to bloody bankrupt him.

"that's to be expected dear, you did crack your head open "Helen told him

"like an egg" Hermione informed him from her corner, she was watching Kreacher setting up the board game for people to play.

"why the hell is that elf here?" Sirius growled in anger.

"does that count as a swear?" Hermione asked in curiosity

"No, dear we'll let it slide this time Kreacher arrived this morning, just before the attack he woke us up and helped the team capture those awful people" Helen let out a light shudder at the possibility that could have occurred.

"why did you help?" Sirius demanded turning his attention on the elf that had been the bane of his existence and was now apparently content to set up a board game. Kreacher stopped for a moment before shuffling over to stand in front of Sirius, he stood rather tall and had his shoulders thrown back, his ears were perked, and he looked a lot younger than he did before.

"kreacher must obey the ancient and noble house of black" he explained

"yes, you said that many times over the years when you locked me in a cupboard or refused to heal me" Sirius snarled out

"Mistress Black gave specific orders, Kreacher must not feed Sirius, Kreacher must not use magic to heal, Kreacher must call him blood traitor, Kreacher cannot sneak him food or water, Kreacher must not coddle him, Kreacher cannot intervene, Kreacher cannot help, Kreacher cannot love, when the Mistress was dying she tried to curse Kreacher but he dodged and on her death all orders were rescinded, Kreacher was free to come to his new Mistress and he no longer had to obey the old orders, the orders that hurt" Kreacher explained looking slightly fearful.

Sirius sat back, shock coursing through him, he had remembered when he was tiny that Kreacher would do all kinds of things with him to cheer him up, he'd use magic to make his stuffed dragon fly and read him bedtime stories but then one day it just stopped, and the abuse kicked in.

"so, you wanted to help me?" he gazed down at the elf

"yes Master" Kreacher looked relived his big bug eyes were shining

Sirius nodded his acceptance, it would take time until they were back to where they used to be, but he hoped that one day, the wounds could heal. He glanced at Hermione who was happily humming a song and sat down in front of her.

"what's this game then?" he asked curiosity peaking

She immediately brightened, clambering into his lap like a throne as she started to explain the game.

"it's called risk it's a strategic board game where you have to conquer the world, but you also need to build alliances and when the time is right you pounce! You have to build up territories and power houses, Uncle Al said he'd play with me and so did kings and Remus it's all about diplomacy, conflict and conquest, this board game board depicts a political map of the earth, divided into forty-two territories, which are grouped into six continents. Turn rotates among players who control armies of playing pieces with which they attempt to capture territories from other players, with results determined by dice rolls. Players may form and dissolve alliances during the course of the game. The goal of the game is to occupy every territory on the board and in doing so, eliminate the other players." She clapped her hands in excitement as she set the rest of the pieces up.

Sirius head was spinning slightly at the influx of information, Hermione gave him a slightly pitying look.

"you can be on my team we are purple, that's my favourite colour" she explained, and he nodded down at her, happy to sit back and watch.

In the next three hours, Sirius gained a slight fear of the three year old in front of him, she was for lack of a better term, ruthless, she had set up an alliance with Remus to only then turn him over to Moody in return for Northern America, her reach had extended through the majority of Europe and from the south pole upwards to China, he watched her with an immense amount of respect as she laughed manically, taking over the majority of what remained of her parents territories, they were clinging onto Australia and New Zealand however, this girl would take the political world by storm when she was older just the thought of her wiping the floor with Malfoy or Nott had him grinning goofily, perhaps he could sneak her into the next meeting?

The flames of the fireplace lit up turning a bright emerald green, Sirius snatched up his wand that was by his side pointing it at Dumbledore who stepped out, Sirius felt anger towards the wizard who he had deemed was playing with their lives.

"ah, I do hope I'm not interrupting" he spoke casually his hands clasped behind his back as he took in the scene before him, who the hell was he to just come waltzing into their home? Did he not know of the attack? Did he even care?

"obviously you are but what do you want Dumbledore?" Sirius drawled the black upbringing might have been unpleasant but there were some perks to it, knowing how to make people flinch and feel uncomfortable being one, he did get some enjoyment out of making people squirm.

"I was going to give back a possession of James's that he had allowed me to borrow and I also wanted to give my-"

"don't you dare Dumbledore, I came to you separately after Hermione pointed out that little security issue that we had" Sirius snarled suddenly infuriated, he had gone to Dumbledore to discuss the possibility of the spy and how to oust them "you promised me that you would get to the bottom of the issue" only the children's presence stopped him from leaping up and throttling the man, he supposed it would be bad for Harry to see that sort of behaviour.

"I told you so, and now your reaping what you sowed" Hermione spoke, her glowing golden eyes piercing into Dumbledore's own blue ones, the twinkle having disappeared.

"I had thought-"

"you know what thought did? It followed a muck cart thinking it was a wedding" Helen snapped her voice was glacier with rage, how dare this man try and play God? Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and now he was what? Trying to integrate himself again? Not bloody likely, she saw her Uncles eyes narrowed in thought as well.

Dumbledore looked down at his hands, abashed at the dressing down "yes I was lax in the protection of the potters and everyone else I should have done better"

"that's because you're just a man and therefore fallible, a man who failed to listen to someone who figured it out, regardless of their age" Hermione spoke up again her arms were crossed defiantly, sometimes it sucked to be as smart as she was and no one listening, Her parents did but most adults ignored her due to her age.

Dumbledore grimaced and kept silent from the verbal beating, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a package as it resized he placed it on a nearby table.

"if that's all" Remus snapped out harshly, his eyes golden as he held onto Harry protectively

"I hope that one day perhaps I can be forgiven" He murmured before stepping back into the flames, disappearing.

"I'm removing him from the floo list and wards" Kingsley grumbled standing up and waving his wand concentrating on the fireplace.

"Back to business, Uncle Al give me Bengal, or I'll decimate Japan but give it to me and I will ignore you until I've destroyed mum and dad" Hermione commanded she wanted to forget about that man and cheer her family up again, Alastor considered for a second the trade of will save him for another two turns but Alastor was fine with throwing them under the bus and quickly agreed to it. Hermione enjoyed her victory that night.

The years passed quickly for Sirius as he took to parenting and being a responsible adult, the first order of business being clearing out Number 12 and restoring his dearest cousin Andromeda to the family Harry was still heir apparent but just in case Lucius Malfoy got any clever ideas, he had been sceptical about the place but he thought that turning it from the horror show into a loving family home was the ultimate flipping a bird to his family, along with housing a werewolf and having muggles over essentially everyday had him ginning like the cat that got the cream the piece de resistance was when Hermione had the bright idea to paint over the portrait of his mother, he did so with glee turning the large portrait of a woman he hated into the family portrait of those he would die for, he took the mantle of Lord Black and the responsibilities with surprising maturity, he claimed he wanted to set a proper example for Harry but then completely destroyed that image by setting off fireworks in Kingsley's flat. The family grew even closer over the years happily waltzing into each other's homes whenever the fancy struck them, Hermione and Harry grew up to become inseparable, Sirius and Remus took great pride in raising their own mini marauders, unfortunately for Harry he got caught out more often as Sirius wasn't the best at teaching Harry how to get away with the pranks, if one was to go looking for them all you would have to do is follow the sounds of Helen Granger yelling, where Sirius and Harry would stand looking contrite but secretly pleased at the amused glints in her eyes, Remus and Hermione would be sat down both with smirks playing at the edges of their mouths as they were the ones who had usually set them up, Kingsley and Alastor also enjoyed the pranking with Alastor claiming that it was good for tactical exercises, Kingsley wasn't sure how painting Sirius's motorbike neon pink and placing a big bow with glitter on it equated to a tactical exercise but the shrieks of rage coming from Sirius made him go along with it, for the sake of propriety of course.

Alastor was delighted to have two kids to teach, his favourite activity was to take the children camping, he would sit down with his own personal notebook of spells and allow them to pick as many as they wanted, he would then cast the spells and sit down with the kids as Remus, Kingsley and Sirius would try to track them down and find them. They would stand outside of the wards and call out to them.

"Little witch, Little witch I can see your footprints!"

"Little witch, Little witch I can smell your perfume!"

"Little wizard, Little wizard I can see your magic shimmer!"

"Little wizard, Little wizard I can hear your heartbeat flutter!"

The children would squeal in excitement and quickly look through the notebook and tell Alastor how to correct the problems or the things that they had overlooked, he would do so and then sit back and praise them as they worked together as a unit, it was fun and games for them, but it was also installing excellent instincts. They would then dismantle the wards and go back to base camp where Dan would have barbequed a feast while Helen set the group up with hot chocolate, marshmallows and of course whipped cream.

Like any family there were some hiccups throughout the years, especially when it came to the two intelligent, magically gifted children that seemed to delight in giving their guardians heart attacks, the great invisibility cloak hunt of 1983 where the buggers had found the cloak, flung it over themselves and remained under it for the duration of Hide and Seek, which thanks to their stubbornness lasted eight hours, Kingsley finally tripped over the bundle and found them napping underneath it, Alastor was quite irritated that even his eye couldn't see through it, he knew that there were in the house thanks to 'homenum revelio' but it irked him that he couldn't narrow it down until Kingsley tripped over them.

Remus leapt into action as soon as possible when the trials of the Lestrange's were founded, as they were rightfully sentenced to life in Azkaban, he stepped up, calling attention to the fact as the head of the house of Lestrange he held power of the family line and then he promptly tossed them out of the family on their arses and they were henceforth stripped of their last names, titles, wealth and any connection to the name Lestrange, Bellatrix was frothing at the mouth, Remus had received a very large basket of honeydukes finest, there was no note but at the next meeting Remus made sure to nod to Augusta.

During the summer of 1991 Harry and Hermione finally got their letters, they had been bouncing off the walls for weeks anticipating that their letters were coming soon. They had slept over at number 12 for the past week as Dan and Helen had a tooth convention that they were excited for, Hermione and Harry were delighted at spending even more time together, even if they spent every day together regardless.

Sirius had been snoozing in bed when the door was opened, he heard the little fits of giggles along with Remus's dramatic shushing and released the tight grip that he had on his wand, smirking to himself he feigned sleep so that they could get whatever amusement out of him. they rather stealthily managed to clamber onto his bed, probably another one of Alastor lessons.

"are you sure about this mine? Dadfoot likes to sleep" curse Moony for teaching him 'Dadfoot' never should've taken the piss out of him for 'Moomy', it was kinda cute though. Harry's voice was slightly apprehensive, so it was Kitten leading the charge today.

"don't worry Harry, it'll be fine" Hermione said, blatant lie obviously from the dark chuckle Remus let out "now do you remember the rhyme?" they were going to serenade him? neat.

"yes mine" Harry's voice turned slightly exasperated

"alright go on you two" Remus encouraged as he grinned at what was coming

"There were ten in the bed

And the little one said,

"Roll over! Roll over!"

So, they all rolled over

And one fell out" they chorused together and with an almighty push shoved Sirius onto the floor and sent him sprawling. He scrambled up, staring at them in indignation while they giggled before singing

"Please Remember to tie a knot in your pyjamas otherwise you'll go tumbling out!" they both shrieked as Sirius lunged at them yelling

"I'll show you tumbling out!"

The family unit came crashing down the stairs half an hour later, Hermione was currently using Remus as her mode of transportation laughing at Harry who was being carried over the shoulder by Sirius. As they went into the kitchen they spotted kreacher once again with that thrice dammed pink frilly apron, how he got it Sirius would never know, placing pancakes and bacon onto the table, two owls both brown but one with speckles were waiting for the two children.

With squeals of excitement they rushed over and took the letters, offering up pieces of bacon in thanks. They both tore into the letters and excitedly waved them about when they were done, Sirius promised to take them into the alley later in the week, already considering the implications of bringing Harry as a celebrity most people stayed away but there were still sycophants every now and again.

On the day of their trip to the Alley Sirius ensured that they were all dressed in a way to look unapproachable, they didn't particularly enjoy wearing the stuffy robes but it helped to keep people away. The small group apparated into Diagon Alley to see Kingsley leaning against the wall waiting for them.

"Hello Sirius or should it be Lord Black for today?" He grinned at them, white teeth flashing

"it's always Sirius to you Kings you know that" Sirius grimaced slightly, the title was so bloody annoying.

Kingsley let out a booming laugh at the look on Sirius's face "come on let's get on with it, the place is pretty crowded today"

They made a quick stop off at Gringotts in order to enter their accounts, Remus and Hermione having decided to stay on top as they didn't enjoy the carriage ride so much, the plaque had been rather interesting to Hermione who had wandered over in order to read it.

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take but do not earn

Must pay dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more that treasure there

Hermione's eyes had lit up at the warning, well more of a challenge to her, perhaps if she got her hands-on Harry's invisibility cloak and then it would be a simple matter of…

"Hermione Leta Lestrange" the voice of her second father cut through her conniving thoughts and she jumped guiltily before glancing up at him, hoping her doe like honey eyes would convince him of her innocence.

"what's wrong Moony?" she asked batting her eyelashes ingenuousness, He wasn't buying it.

"get those conniving Marauding thoughts out of you head young lady, your far too smart for your own good and the plaque isn't issuing a challenge, it's a warning" He raised an eyebrow as the young girl pouted

"but it's rhyming!" she argued

"what's rhyming Mine?" Harry came bounding over, Sirius and Kingsley following

"the plaque it's obviously challenging us!" Hermione declared, Harry quickly read it before turning to her a glint in his eye.

"if we could come back with…." Harry was interrupted

"No way pup!" Sirius saw the looks in their eyes, pranking was fun but bank robbery? He wasn't trying to raise Bonnie and Clyde!

Remus glanced around and saw that the goblins were starting to edge closer, nudging Sirius who glanced up and around he nodded his understanding and rushed the kids through the doors of the bank while kingsley and Remus tried to look innocent, both whistling.

They rushed through their shopping, Kingsley helping to keep the pushier fans away from Harry, who looked irritated at the whole situation, Harry had decided that he had wanted an owl that he could send back to Sirius and Remus with letters, he had picked out a beautiful snowy owl that he had promptly named Hedwig, from the adoring look he received they were well on the way to having a familiar bond.

When they had gone into madam malkin they had spotted a rather pale young man with slicked back blonde hair, they knew of Draco Malfoy of course along with his mother- their cousin who was perched on the opposite side of the store- but they hardly ever spoke Sirius and Remus finding societal functions to be a bore and the Malfoys would rather Avada themselves then be caught anywhere muggle.

Draco looked at them calculatingly as they wandered closer "Potter, Lestrange" he greeted them his voice alight with curiosity, his stormy grey eyes, far inferior to Sirius's that shone like stars in Hermione's opinion, flickering towards his mother who was speaking with Sirius.

"We're cousins, aren't we? Surely you should call us Harry and Hermione" Harry pointed out taking the lead, Hermione wasn't exactly good with speaking to new people, Harry was far more charming.

"I suppose so" Draco allowed "are you here to be fitted for robes?"

"yes, we are, you excited for school?" Harry tossed back, Hermione remained silent looking at Draco's body language

"I am, Slytherin is the best house after all" Draco drawled arrogantly but Hermione noticed the slight twitch, Harry also spotting it, pounced

"who says you'll be a slytherin? Personally, in our family there's a bit of a betting pool" Harry piped up, a cheeky grin spreading across his face "Mine here is a right slytherin but ever so reckless so it's a bit of a tossup, five galleons say she threatens the hat either way" he winked at Hermione who huffed good naturedly.

"you're a potter so you'll be a Gryffindor and Hermione is a Lestrange so she'll be a Slytherin" Draco argued lightly, a frown marring his face

"things like houses aren't set in stone due to our families, Sirius was a Gryffindor and my Uncle Alastor was a Hufflepuff maybe I will as well" Hermione's voice was lightly chastising.

"Mad-Eye Moody? The insane Auror? And it's the way things are done, My father says so" Draco said

Hermione clucked her tongue in disapproval "My uncle has been called many things yes, but he's insanely talented and you shouldn't be such a sheep you know"

"I'm not a sheep!" Draco snapped, flushing red

"then why are you spouting your father's words? Hermione parried idly

"you're a lestrange your expected to be a slytherin!"

"so? I'm expected to lead my own house one day as is Harry and you, how am I supposed to be a leader if I follow everyone else's expectations and I don't forge my own path?" this had been said to both Harry and Hermione throughout the years, Helen was frustrated beyond belief that no one in the wizarding world dared to question the status quo and refused to allow her children to be anything but strong-willed independent free thinkers.

"I suppose your right" Draco looked thoughtful as he hopped down, and Harry took his place, stopping by Hermione he looked at her, she arched an eyebrow in response.

"you are you own person not a puppet" she murmured through the side of her mouth as his mother called for him, nodding in understanding he hurriedly left.

The night before the train left Hermione couldn't sleep, she kept tossing and turning apprehensive, excited and terrified for the next day, she would be leaving her family for months on end, Hermione sat up with a frown marring her face, she wanted comfort, she wanted Sirius.

Clambering out of her bed she opened her door, Remus was directly across from her parents next to him across from them was Harry and to the end of the hall was Sirius room, so she tiptoed to his room, opening the door she peeked in.

"Sirius?" she asked tentatively standing next to his prone form

"Kitten?" a sleep laden voice asked, Sirius picked his head up to stare at her "what's wrong love?"

"I can't sleep" she confessed

He sat up staring at her in concern "why's that Kitten?"

"I'm scared about tomorrow about going to Hogwarts and I'll be leaving, and we've never been apart, and it'll be so long!" Hermione blurted out childishly, tears were forming in her eyes.

"Oh, Kitten, come on" Sirius spoke sliding out of bed and picking her up, she wrapped her arms around his neck seeking his warmth.

"where we are going?" she asked curiously

"I want to show you something Kitten alright?" he peered down at her, silver eyes shining.

"alright" she murmured watching as he walked down the hall, he opened a portrait door and walked up a set of stairs until they hit an old oak door, Sirius pointed his wand at the door and it opened, he walked quickly out and then they were on the roof, it was charmed to be quite warm but Sirius led them to a specific spot, he conjured up a pile of blankets and pillows wrapping them around himself and Hermione. Quietly he called out for kreacher and asked for two hot chocolates as Hermione watched in her eyes alight with curiosity. When they were both sipping on hot chocolate Sirius finally spoke.

"Now Kitten you know that the Blacks were all about astrology, right?"

"right" she confirmed

"Look up" he ordered softly, and she did, the skies were clear and shining brightly, the moon hanging rather low in the sky it looked stunning to her, smiling she looked at Sirius the question burning in her eyes.

He grinned softly at her and began to speak, pointing to a certain star in the sky,

"Sirius is the brightest star in the sky did you know that Kitten? Sirius in the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog. Sirius is sometimes called the Dog Star. My father named me Sirius as he always said that I would be the brightest Black to shine. The Black family were always worried about becoming faded or forgotten so we named ourselves after the stars, so we'd never be forgotten- like the muggles say reach for the stars, right? My point being Kitten you don't have to worry about being away at Hogwarts because as long as it's there and as long as that star's shine I'll be there for you" Sirius looked down at her wanting her to understand the devotion that he had to her, he'd hop skip and jump into the jaws of hell for her.

"Promise?" she asked, her eyelids were fluttering closed

"Until the stars fall to earth Kitten" He vowed to her drawing her closer to his body warmth as her eyes fell shut and she began to snore softly with a grin he settled himself down, staring at the stars as his own eye began to drift close.

Sirius was jerked awake by the morning sun ignoring the crick in his neck, he looked down to see Hermione sprawled across him, chuckling he lightly nudged her shoulder, she stretched and yawned like the moniker that he had given him, picking her up, ensuring that the blanket was still wrapped around her to ensure the cold couldn't bother her- not that the charms would have failed- he shuffled the pair of them downstairs for breakfast.

Placing her in her chair, Kreacher placed her favourite breakfast in front of her, pancakes with lemon and sugar and a side of bacon, Harry was already tucking into cheese and bacon toasties, his face was smeared slightly with tomato sauce.

"pup I swear you need to learn how to put food in your mouth not on your face" He chuckled as Helen started to attack him with a napkin

"I learnt from the best Padfoot" Harry grinned back used to the ministrations of his mum.

"Alright smart-arse, we've got to catch the train" Sirius sniped playfully

"swear Sirius" Hermione called out

Sirius put an affronted look on his face with a shout of "well I never!" he winked at the giggling kids before tossing a galleon to the jar on the mantle, it seems he would never learn.

"right then my lovelies let's get you on that train" Remus spoke up, jumping in on the merry mood, he felt as if his heart was being torn out as he didn't want his cubs leaving him but such was the way of life and he wanted them happy when he sent them off on their adventures, with a swish and a flick of his wand the trunks that kreacher had placed next to the door was shrunk and in his pocket. Crookshanks and Hedwig where placed in their containers and the little family marched out of the house and clambered into Dan and Helen's car.

Dan started the car and they pulled out, driving towards kings cross so that they could get to platform 9 ¾. they group quickly hurried to the barrier with Sirius going first then Harry, Hermione, her parents and Remus and Moody following after. The entire platform was packed to the brim they jostled their way through the crowd and managed to drop of their trunks for placement on the train

Helen had grabbed both of the kids into tight hugs and rained kisses upon the pair.

"promise to behave" she playfully ordered the pair

"where's the fun in that?" Harry retorted "don't worry ma we'll send a toilet seat"

Helen sniffed disdainfully at the suggestion as Hermione burst out into a fit of giggles

"or a tapestry?" she suggested

"That's my mini marauders!" Sirius proclaimed proudly wrapping his arms around them in a bear hug "the first to get suspended or expelled gets a motorbike!" he received a death glare of a few families most notably a red-haired woman.

"Padfoot don't encourage them" Remus chided as he pulled the two of them into tight hugs, leaning down he whispered conspiritally "if you manage to get a tapestry or banner home with no detection I'll get tickets to the quidditch world cup in a few years but if you don't I'll ask professor mcgonagall to add another month of detention got it?" he warned the pair who had lit up at the idea of a high stake challenge, little lions that they were.

"Make sure you do your homework and you read ahead for classes" Dan warned the pair as he hugged them tight

"keep up with training and studying otherwise I'll be paying a visit" Uncle Al warned them gruffly not one to show affection in public always paranoid about enemies, today he had been acting as guard duty to the public.

"now hurry on the train or you'll miss it" Helen warned as the train let out a warning whistle, with final calls of love and promises to write the two children scrambled onto the train as it began to pull out of the station.

"Right let's find a compartment mine, people are already staring" Harry pulled his face into an expression of distaste as people began to gawk and mutter about 'the-boy-who-lived'. Hermione nodded her head in understanding, the family always preferred the muggle world, harry could be normal there.

They snagged themselves an empty compartment and sat themselves down, Harry had pulled out a pack of cards and they began to play blackjack for a while, after half an hour they heard knocking at the compartment door, glancing up they saw distinctive platinum hair, Hermione glanced at Harry who shrugged apathetically so she jumped up and opened the door.

"Hello Draco" Hermione smiled softly at the boy gesturing for him to sit down, he did so glancing between the pair rather nervously. Sensing this Harry turned towards the boy.

"who's your favourite team?" he asked

"Balmouth Bats" Draco murmured He was awfully straight laced in Harry's opinion, well he'd soon see to that.

"Mines the Falcons wanna play blackjack?" Harry waved the pack of muggle cards

"what's that?" Draco looked intrigued

"It's a muggle card game that Dadfoot taught us, Moony said it was inappropriate but it's a fun way to pass the time" Harry explained the game and dealt a hand to himself and Draco, Hermione had pulled a book and totally disregarded the pair.

"Dadfoot? And is she okay?" Draco wondered glancing at the girl who was curled up with a book, she sent a quick smile over the top of the book to him with a smile twitching at his lips relaxing back into the seats.

"oh yea, Dadfoot is my adopted Dad Sirius Black and Moony is my kinda mum slash uncle Remus Lupin he's awesome he's Hermione's magical father and Hermione is my sister, we grew up together but I call her Mine, couldn't pronounce her name when we first met and it just stuck, she loves to read so when she's reading don't interrupt unless the world is ending or you'll get a split lip, I'm sure you'll eventually get a name for her" Harry chuckled at the memory of when they were at primary school a fat kid called Dudley- stupid name in his opinion- had gotten between Mine and Her books, she had totally lost it and used Uncle Al's recent lesson of punching to split his lip and bruise his cheek, he had noticed Dad's lip twitching throughout the whole meeting.

"can I call you Mia?" Draco directed the question to the girl who glanced up at the sound of his voice.

"course you can, we're friends, aren't we?" she smiled sweetly, her two front teeth poking out slightly. Harry nodded empathically next to her in agreement.

Draco grinned and nodded enthusiastically at that sentiment, he had been a lonely child growing up, his mother so paranoid about the outside world he had constantly been locked away in a tower apart from those societal functions were his father kept a death grip on him, well Draco was ready for some adventure and his two new friends looked like they could provide that.

An hour later they little group was interrupted by the sounds of the compartment door slamming open.

"oi aren't you the boy who lived?" a voice rang out, glancing up in shock the three friends stared at the red headed boy, who walked in and sat opposite Hermione, next to Draco.

"I'm Harry Potter this is-"Harry was cut off from polite introductions

"blimey! Show us your scar, go on!" the boy leaned forward demandingly, Harry's face was twisted in annoyance, he wasn't a bloody sideshow attraction.

"your wording is incorrect, you should've said 'show me the scar' not 'show us the scar' you'd sound less uncouth that way" Draco cut in snidely, a faint giggle was heard from behind the book cover and he smirked.

"I know you! You're Malfoy, you're a right evil slytherin git! Harry why are you hanging around a bloody snake?" Harry stared in disbelief he couldn't be serious, could he?

"I'm Hermione Lestrange" Hermione quickly cut in, hoping to drain the tension the boy had created. The boy stared at her and sniggered.

"what kind of a name is that? And what's with the teeth?" he snapped harshly, he didn't have to be nice to the snakes! All he wanted was to be friends with the boy-who-lived!

"you have dirt on your nose did you know?" Hermione snapped back feeling heat rush to her cheeks.

"think Mia's name is funny, do you? Well, no need to ask yours. Red hair, and a hand-me-down-robe? You must be a Weasley."* Draco sneered with ease at the boy, just as the stupid boy opened his mouth again, the door was open once more, yet another red headed boy poked his head in.

"what on earth is going on here?" he blustered

"that boy was harassing us and saying quite rude things of us" Harry spoke up, a dark frown marring his face and his emerald eyes were flashing with rage.

"Ronald! What on earth have you done? Come along this instance! Otherwise I'll be writing to Mother" the boy had grabbed him by the ear and was dragging him out, ranting about being a prefect and becoming head boy and ruining his chances, Hermione quickly leapt up and closed the compartment door.

"what a weasel! That whole family is batty, I tell you" Draco grumbled at having the peace he and his friends created disturbed by that annoyance.

Hermione was feeling flustered herself so didn't tell of Draco for calling a weasel and well she did rather agree with the assessment he had made, flopping down the friends quickly decided to ignore the whole Ron situation and they quickly got back into the swing of things, as they got closer to Hogwarts they quickly changed into their robes and nervously chatted about the sorting ahead.

"Mia did you really mean it?" Draco piped up at some point

"mean what Draco?" she inquired

"forging your own path?" he mumbled feeling slightly embarrassed

"oh of course! What's the point in doing the same thing over and over who's interested in one trick broomsticks? March to the beat of your own drum, personally I don't mind which house I get into I know mum and dad will be proud no matter what and me and Harry and you will be friends regardless" Hermione spoke with utter conviction that had set the rest of them at ease, the train stopped and they quickly clambered of the train and onto the platform.

"firs' years firs' years o'er 'ere" a booming voice called out and the triplet wandered over there, seeing a giant of a man they huddled together slightly at the sheer size of the man before staring at him with wide eyes, they quickly followed the hulk of the man down some slippery stone steps and out onto a dock.

"no more tha' four ter a boat" the man called out cramming himself into a boat, the three friends quickly picked a boat and sat themselves down, they were quickly joined by a nervous looking boy who looked anywhere but at them.

Their first glance of Hogwarts left the entire group of kids were left speechless, the stars were shining brightly as the moon hung in the backdrop of the darkened sky, the castle loomed over them the light of the castle twinkled invitingly at them all.

They entered a cave like structure where they then hopped off and followed the man to a pair of giant oak doors, he struck his dustbin sized hands against the oak doors which were then opened.

"firs' y'ers fer yer professor" He spoke up

"thank you, Hagrid," the woman spoke before ushering the small group into a massive entrance hall, Hagrid beamed at the cluster of children before walking through a side door.

"Welcome to Hogwarts the start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting" * the stern woman swept off for a moment.

Harry let out a little snort of laughter "She's exactly what dadfoot said she'd be like"

Hermione grinned at Harry "still going to call her Minnie?" she questioned

"course I am" His eyes glinted in amusement, the pair were dressed smartly, the only short coming was the pairs hair and they had long since learnt to not even bother with that particular battle.

"I'll start on the obituary" Hermione snorted

"I'll help find a mortician" Draco cut in causing Hermione to smile brightly at the boy, who preened at the approval.

Their conversation was interrupted by a conversation going on about five feet above them.

"Now my dear friends, we need to take the high road on this matter" a voice spoke softly but with conviction the students glanced up and saw a bunch of ghosts.

"my dear friar enough is enough! I say let the baron have at him" another voice called out from the back of the group.

The ghosts seemed to notice the shrill scream that came from a brunette girl near them.

"oh, my new students! I do hope you get into Hufflepuff my old house you know" seemingly unconcerned by the terrified students.

"yes, thank you friar now if everyone will follow me" the professor was back and with a slightly irritated look towards the ghosts turned and everyone scrambled to follow.

They followed her into a great hall with four long tables spread out, a banner behind each table, Harry nudged her in the ribs and jerked his head subtly, she grinned and nodded and a long table at the top were the staff sat, in front of the table was a hat sat onto a stool, the group stopped and stared for a while before it opened a tear in the hat and began to sing.

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)" *

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

There was a round of polite applause before Professor Mcgonagall pulled a scroll from the depths of her robes, she called a name and the person called would sit on top of the stool and the hat would be silent for a while before calling out a house.

"hey mine, we should nick the banner of the house we end up in don't cha think?" he murmured out the side of his mouth

"I think mum would love that so will Sirius after all there aren't any rules against it" she winked back, she would know she had memorised the rule book.

"LESTRANGE. HERMIONE" there was a hissing noise across the hall due to the last name but Hermione ignored it, she despised her name being dragged through the mud but she would restore it, Remus had already started on that road but she would continue it, having a werewolf as the head of a pureblood house had caused quite the stir but she thought it hilarious and due to ancient laws that they had written, he couldn't be displaced as several houses had backed his claim.

'my oh my how conniving' a voice whispered in her mind, evidently as she was thinking on autopilot the hat had been placed on her head 'oh the loyalty is there as well to your little brother and intelligence beyond measure but what a little lioness heart! Where to put you, decisions, decisions'

"put me anywhere I can take it" Hermione thought smugly back with a little smirk

"and that my dear, is exactly the push I needed" the hat whispered before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!" there was clamouring at the choice of sorting, the Slytherins looking as if they sucked a lemon.

Hermione beamed at Harry, sent a cheeky wink towards Draco before sitting down at her table directly across from two red headed boys.

"I'm Fred"

"I'm George" they spoke together and Hermione she immediately began cataloguing them, Fred's eyes were a lighter shade of blue, George's demeanour was more gregarious, His chin a little narrower, Fred's shoulders were slightly broader and he had a scar running through his eyebrow on the left side, George had tried to replicate it but his was crooked and a centimetre to the left.

"Hermione Lestrange" she greeted them back before turning to see Harry's sorting.

A/N: sorry this took forever! I'm moving into University this month and quite frankly guys I'm terrified so I'll try to give you guys the next chapter soon but if not it's because I'm settling into University.

What do you think? Where will Harry go? Where will draco go? Will Ron stop being a prat? Most likely not for the near future lol tell me what you think? Is it shit? Is it good? Not sure about the whole 'show us your scar' thing if it's wrong please correct me 😊

*Pieces from Harry potter and the philosphers stone all belonging to JK of course!

PS I know in the Books/Movie Moody can 'see' Harry but seeing as how it's a cloak that can 'hide' from death I'm going with that no one can see through the cloak.

PPS there is no pedophillia there is no abuse there is no assault there is nothing of the sort like that, its going to be a (mostly) happy story with a bit of ron and a bit of ginny bashing and some redemption for people, this is a happy story with some twists if you want something dark and depressing this isn't the place I deal with my own depression enough I like writing happy stories.


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